Cloud 9
by ForeverSmiles
Summary: Naruto and Tsunami have been best friends ever since their first year at the Academy. Tsunami always knew that with Naruto Uzumaki, everything was unexpected. One thing she NEVER expected: falling in love with him. Crappy summary, but give it a shot.
1. The Beginning

I curled my seven-year-old body into a ball on my bed and buried my tear-stained face into my pillow. I clamped my hands over my ears, but it didn't stop me from hearing everything that was going on outside my tiny bedroom.

"This is your last chance, Hazuki!" Remi Kashuni yelled at my father, angrily.

"Get the hell out of here, Remi," my dad, Hazuki Halu, snarled and I heard a thump and a scream as my father fell to the ground. My two-year-old little brother, Rayne, started wailing across the room from his crib.

"It's okay, Rayne," I whispered as I got out of my bed and made my way towards his crib. I peered down into the crib and saw the small baby's face caked with tears, his mint green hair messed up and his small fingers curled around a thin blanket. "Don't cry, baby." I lifted him up from the crib and let him wrap his chubby arms around my neck as I carried him back to my bed.

I caressed him in my arms as I pulled the blankets over our heads while we both cried. The Halu family and the Kashuni family had been rivals for as long as anyone could remember. The Halu's, my family, had the power to control and create fire, while the Kashuni's were the masters of ice. The Kashuni's had been dominant and had stepped all over the Halu's for a long time, but I planned to change that.

"Don't worry, Rayne," I murmured. "I'm gonna start my training at the Ninja Academy next week and then I'm gonna train hard and get strong. I'm gonna put the Kashuni's to shame, and make them wish they never messed with us." At these words, my mind flickered over to Honako Kashuni, Remi's daughter, who was also starting at the Ninja Academy next week. "And I'm gonna beat Honako, too," I added.

"Maybe _next time_ you'll think before turning the Kashuni clan down!" Remi snapped and I heard the door slam and my mother start to cry.

"Hazuki, what are we going to do?" my mother, Paluna, whimpered and I clutched Rayne closer to me, who started to cry harder.

"Hold on," he murmured and a sliver of light appeared in the room as my father opened the door.

"Tsunami?" I pulled the blanket down and glanced up at my dad.

"I'm so sorry you had to hear that, hon," he said and took a sniffling Rayne from my arms and put him back in his crib. I noticed that he was bleeding and had a swollen eye.

"Why are they stronger than us? I mean, fire's stronger than ice, right?" I whimpered and my father grinned as he came back to sit on the edge of my bed.

"Not necessarily, sweetie."

"Well, no more!" I cried, angrily, balling my hands into fists. "I'm gonna get strong and be the greatest ninja that the Halu family has ever known! I'm gonna beat Honako's butt, I _promise,_ Daddy!" My father grinned and ruffled my hair.

"That's my girl. And I know you can do it." He got up from the bed and started towards the door. "Go back to sleep. You're gonna need your rest if you're gonna start at the Ninja Academy next week." I grinned and nodded, wiping away the remaining tears.

"Okay." He shut the door behind him and left me alone in the dark, with only a whimpering Rayne across the room to keep me company. I curled my hand into another fist around the covers as I glared at the ceiling while I heard the bathroom sink turn on down the hall, knowing my dad was cleaning his wounds. I wasn't going to let the Kashuni clan walk all over us anymore. _They won't even go near us once I'm done,_ I thought, angrily.


	2. Team Games

TEAM 1: Tsunami, Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Link, Sakura.

TEAM 2: Kyoko, Honako, Ino, Sasuke, Shino, Hinata.

I crouched down behind a tree, clutching my paper ninja stars in my hand, tightly. I heard the crunch of leaves on the other side of the tree and I drew in a sharp breath, barely moving. Poking her head around from the other side of the tree I saw my friend, Kyoko Jalika, grinning down at me, three paper ninja stars in one hand and a plastic kunai in the other.

"Ooh, tough luck, Halu," she said with a grin and raised her plastic kunai. I reached to my pocket for mine, whem a paper ninja star flew out of nowhere and knocked Kyoko's plastic kunai out of her hand, which I quickly grabbed. I stood up, armed with both kunai, my paper ninja stars lying forgotten on the grass.

"Tough luck, Kyoko," Kiba mocked, grinning and she glared at him as another one of his ninja stars hit her neck and bounced off, claiming her dead.

"Up yours, Inuzuka!" Kyoko snapped and plopped down on the grass, angrily (Kyoko was a sore loser) and Kiba and I looked at each other, confused. Kyoko had an older brother that was always teaching her weird stuff like that, stuff the rest of us didn't understand.

"Just let us search you," I replied and Kiba and I robbed her of the rest of her weapons. Our class was playing a pretend game of ninja as an assignment. It was our first week, but Iruka-sensei had put us into two teams and said that we would be playing ninja every Friday.

"Thanks, Kiba," I said as we slinked away, but he put a finger to his lips as we hid next to Shikamaru and Choji behind a bush.

"Quiet, Choji!" Shikamaru whispered as Choji munched on chips and Kiba and I looked around the field. Sakura was already dead from our team, and Kyoko and Hinata were dead from the other team.

"GOTCHA!" someone yelled from behind us and we whipped around to see Honako and Ino standing behind us with their kunai's ready. Before we could even react, they slit our throat or stabbed us, spilling pretend blood. Honako smirked down at me as she removed the kunai from my neck and I felt myself bubbling with anger, and had to squeeze my eyes shut to calm myself.

"Aw, man!" Kiba moaned.

"Choji, it's all your fault!" Shikamaru accused and Choji gasped.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah! If you weren't eating so loud..." Their arguing suddenly seemed very far away as I saw Ino and Honako scamper away to go join Sasuke and Shino who were cornering a nervous-looking Link.

"Hey, that's not fair," I said, pointing and the three boys stopped arguing to follow my gaze.

"Whatever. We were gonna lose, anyway," Shikamaru sighed and Kiba growled,

"We have one more person than they do and we _still_ lost. How pathetic is that?"

"Om nom nom," was all Choji said as he munched on his chips. Sasuke brought the fake kunai to Link's heart and then Ino yelled out,

"Yay! That's it! We won!"

"This sucks," I murmured as all four of us got up and made our way towards Iruka-sensei with everyone else.

"Ha! Better luck next time, Halu!" Kyoko cried, gleefully, clapping me on the back before running off to join her team to get their prize, whatever it was.

"Yeah, but there's always next week," Choji suggested and I nodded, but didn't feel any better. I really wanted to beat Honako's team...and to have her of all people be the one to kill me? It was humiliating.

"Alright, Team 2, great job!" Iruka-sensei cried as they collected their candy. "Team 1, try better next time. You all did a fantastic job." I kept my head ducked down so I wouldn't have to see Honako smirking at me and then I saw a sucker being waved in front of my face.

"Haha! How do ya' like that, Halu? Muahaha!" Kyoko shrieked, slobbering all over her sucker and then running down the street with some of the other kids; it was time to go home.


	3. Special

_**This chapter might be sort of confusing, but I promise I'll get more into this in the later chapters. And for anyone who is wondering, this is a NARUTO love story. Not Shikamaru...or Gaara...(even though I love them both)Naruto! So if you're looking for a different story about Sasuke or something, look elsewhere. Also, this is a NarutoxOC story, no NaruHina or NaruSaku.**_

_**Oh yeah, and Naruto will be coming up soon. :D**_

_**Love, Rachel**_

"Freak."

"Monster."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Get-get away from me!"

"Orphan."

"Go away, loser!"

My classmates shot countless insults at the blonde-haired boy as he walked across the hall to his classroom, his blue eyes filled with sadness and tears.

"...did you hear about him?"

"He has..."

"...inside of him."

"My parents told me..."

"...Naruto..."

Naruto silently walked in the door across the hall, disappearing from view, just as Iruka-sensei started to talk. I tried to listen, but Iruka-sensei's words were drowned out, his mouth only making shapes. I looked around in a panic and saw everyone else listening intently.

The only thing I could hear was someone crying, softly and then a voice: "Tsunami, I'm sorry. I need you, baby." It was my mom. I had to go to her.

The classroom and my friends became fuzzy, even Kyoko doodling next to me started to fade away. I suddenly felt very light, very free and a new scenery started to take place: my mother was sitting, alone on her and my father's bed, crying.

"Mommy?" I called and her head snapped up to look at me.

"Tsunami, how-" she started and then the light, free feeling was gone and I was just standing there. "What's wrong with you?" I blinked in shock.

"What?"

"Who _are_ you?" she snapped, jumping up.

"Mommy, it's me! Tsunami!" I cried, helplessly, but she grabbed my arm.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY DAUGHTER?"

"Mom-!"

"Come on!" she yelled, and dragged me out the door and to the Hokage's room.

"Mom, you're hurting me." I whimpered. "Please stop."

"Yes?" the 3rd Hokage asked, opening the door.

"My daughter is possessed," my mother explained and I whimpered in fright. _Possessed?_ "She must be. Tsunami, she-she *transported* to my side! That's not normal. Please-take her evil powers away."

"Paluna?" my father called. He worked here, with the Hokage.

"Hazuki!" my mother cried, and let go of my arm to run to him. "Hazuki, I'm so scared for Tsunami!" She started to cry. "There's something wrong with her...terribly wrong."

"Paluna...Paluna, calm down. There's something I have to tell you...about Tsunami." He led my mother into a different room,

The 3rd Hokage looked kindly down at me. "Transported out of class, huh? How did you manage to do that?"

"I don't know!" I wailed. "And I'm sorry, really sorry! I'm not possessed, am I? I'm not evil?" He laughed and shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. Come on." He led me to his desk and murmured something to one of his assistants, who quickly left. "Do you see this crystal ball here?" He gestured to it and I nodded. "It allows me to see everyone and everything in the Village."

"Really? Did you see me transport?" I cried.

"Yes." At that moment, three adult ninjas walked in-two men and one woman. "Tsunami, this is Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, and Asuka-sensei."

"Hey there, little one," Gai said, grinning.

"Hi."

"I called you here because I wanted to show you this," the Hokage said and pushed the crystal ball towards them. I peered inside, too:

There was me, sitting in class next to Kyoko, and then suddenly I started to look around, wildly.

"That was when I stopped hearing for a few seconds," I explained and the three ninjas exchanged glances.

Then suddenly I started to fade away, my body disappearing into nothingness, with only glitter-like sparkles left in my place. Even they slowly dissolved.

"Hey, Tsunami. What do you say we-" Kyoko started, but then noticed I was gone. "Hey, where'd she go?"

"Extroardinary, isn't it?" the Hokage asked, and the three awed ninja.

"It's impossible," Asuka stated.

"It's rare for Tsunami's kind to come upon earth, but not impossible," Kakashi argued.

"But why is she here?" Gai asked.

"What do you mean, my kind?" I asked.

Suddenly, there was yelling in the other room.

"...you mean, you _knew_ about this and you didn't tell me?" my mother screeched. "How could you let that _thing_ infiltrate our home? Our _family?_"

"She's not a thing, she's still our daughter. Tsunami's just an angel, and not human, that's all." I smiled. I was still Daddy's Angel, even if my mother hated me. "She was sent here for a reason, to _our clan_ for a reason."

"Oh yeah? What about Rayne? Is he an angel, too?"

"No, he's human," my father expained. "Tsunami was sent here to protect the Hidden Leaf Village. That's what she told me."

"She? Who's she?"

"Hazuki? Paluna? Can I talk to you for a moment, please?" the Hokage called, and the yelling stopped, and my parents came into view. "Tsunami, can you wait in the hallway for a few minutes?" I nodded and ran out the door.

_I'm gonna be strong,_ I thought, happily. *_I'm supposed to protect the Hidden Leaf Village, Daddy said so.* I curled my hand into a fist. *And I'll do everything I can to protect my village._

"_No!_" my mother screamed. "She is _not_ an angel, and she is _not_ a freak! I want all those funky abilities _gone!_"

"Taking away her powers won't make her any less an angel. She'll just be a weaker angel," Kakashi said.

"I don't care!" my mother shrieked, and I realized she was crying again.

"We wouldn't have the power to take her abilities away, anyway. We're not strong enough. No one is," Asuka replied.

"What about Tsunami? She can get rid of her own powers, can't she? She's an angel, she can do anything!"

"Paluna, I said no," the Hokage snapped. "If Kushina sent Tsunami to the Village Hidden in the Leaves because we need protection, then dammit, she _will_ protect us!" I was stunned. The Hokage had never yelled at anyone before.

My mother came storming out into the hallway with a huff and grabbed my arm. "Come on, Tsunami, I'm taking you back to school," she growled and dragged me down the hallway.

I didn't understand. I thought moms were supposed to help you, not hurt you.


	4. Befriending The Freak

_**Okay, so I've been trying to figure this out...Naruto failed the graduation test 3 times, yet he's the same age as everyone else. I didn't really know how to make that work, so I just put him in a different class. Again, I'll go into more detail about that later on.**_

_**Oh and by the way, I own nothing besides *my* characters: Tsunami, Kyoko, Honako, Link, and Asuka-sensei.**_

_**Rachel**_

"Why are you so nice to him?" Kyoko asked in disgust as Naruto walked away with a small smile on his lips after I had given him half my lunch because he had forgotten his (again).

"Why aren't you?" I shot back as we sat down in the grass for lunch. I had decided not to tell Kyoko about what had happened a few days ago. No particular reason, I just felt like keeping it to myself. And besides, the whole thing scared me...I felt like I would cry every time I thought about it, and Kyoko would make fun of me if I cried.

"I'm not nice to anyone," Kyoko commented with a mischevious grin. "Anyone except you."

"You're not even that nice to me," I replied.

"And it's not just me that is mean to Naruto," Kyoko continued, not bothering to keep her voice down. Luckily, Naruto was all the way across the playground. "_everyone_ is."

"Why?" I asked, sadly, watching the boy eat by himself over by the swing.

"We're not supposed to talk about it, but Sinchi told me everything," Kyoko explained in a hushed tone, and I glanced over at her.

"What did he tell you?"

"You can't tell anyone."

"I won't," I promised. "Now spill!"

"Well, you know how the 4th Hokage died to protect the Village from the Nine-Tailed Fox?" I nodded. My dad had told me a few stories about that. "He had to seal the spirit away somewhere, so he put the demon inside of a newborn baby. And there he is." Kyoko pointed at Naruto. "But don't say anything. Sinchi said that hardly anyone knows about it in the entire town. Not even Naruto knows."

"You're lying," I insisted.

"Cross my heart and hope to die. I swear it's the truth." I got up from my spot on the ground and dusted off my pants.

"What are you doing?" Kyoko asked.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," I replied.

"What? No! What if he hurts you?"

"He's not gonna hurt me," I said and made my way over to him. "Hi."

Naruto looked up at me in surprise.

"Hi, Tsunami." I sat down next to him.

"You know, you really should remember to bring your own lunch. I gave you all the good stuff," I said, grinning, but he just looked sad.

"Do you want it back?"

"No, you can have it," I said, and then sighed. "Listen, today is Friday so that means there's no school the next two days. Do you want to sleep over tonight? We could order pizza and play videogames, and then watch cartoons on Saturday morning."

"Umm..." Naruto looked like he was in shock. "okay. But can we do it at my house?"

"Sure. We should walk back to your house after class so I know where it is."

"Okay."

"Alright, kids, lunch is over!" Iruka-sensei called and everyone started to walk or run inside.

I was sitting in class with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Choji, my best guy friends. Kiba and Choji were passing notes, and Shikamaru whispered in my ear,

"I saw you talkin' to Naruto at lunch. What was that about?" I rolled my eyes.

"Don't tell me you hate him, too."

"I don't hate him. I was just wondering."

"Oh. I invited him to sleep over." Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, and I added, "No one's ever nice to him."

"What about me? I thought I was your best friend. How come I didn't get invited to sleep over?" he asked with a grin and I giggled.

"You can sleep over tomorrow night."

"Just kidding. I don't wanna sleep over at your house."

"Well then."

"But we can still hang out tomorrow."

"Okay." Shikamaru and I always hung out on Saturdays. Sometimes Choji tagged along, too, but we didn't really mind.

"Can I come?" Choji chirped and I giggled.

"Sure, if you want."

"AHEM! Shikamaru, Tsunami, am I interrupting your conversation with my teaching?" Iruka-sensei asked, and suddenly all eyes were on us.

"No," I said, quietly.

"Good." I could hear Shikamaru snickering next to me and I elbowed him in the ribs as Iruka-sensei turned back around.

"You buttwipe! You got me in trouble."

Class was dismissed and everyone ran outside, happy it was Friday.

"Hey, Tsunami! Walk home with me, come on," Kyoko cried, grabbing my arm, but I shook her off.

"Can't. I have other plans."

"Hmm, since when did you get more popular than me?"

"I've always been more popular than you."

"Go screw." I left her behind me, and went to go find Naruto.

"Hey," I said, tapping him on the shoulder. He was waiting out front.

"Hi!" Naruto cried, happily.

"Let's go to your house!" I cried, grinning and he grabbed my hand, and we took off running.

"Hey!"

"Watch where you're going!"

"Damn kids."

"Get outta here!" were some of the things people yelled at us as we plowed through the streets of the Village, tripping people and knocking over carts.

"This is where you live?" I asked as we stopped in front of a large building filled with apartments.

"Yeah."

"COOL!" I yelled and we ran inside and up to his room.

"Are you sure your parents won't mind that I'm here?" I asked as I sat down on the couch.

"I don't have parents." Naruto was looking through the fridge.

"So, you live here all by yourself?"

"Hokage comes to check on me sometimes," Naruto murmured and stuck two cups of something in the microwave "You like ramen, right?"

"Umm...yeah," I lied. I had never tried it.

Naruto sat down, cross-legged in front of the microwave and drummed his fingers on the floor.

"Do you have any games?" I asked as the clock on the microwave ticked down from 3 minutes.

"Like what?"

"Like Candyland or Shoots and Ladders or Apples to Apples."

"No, I don't think so." 2:20, 2:19, 2:18.

"What do you do for fun?"

"I eat ramen, and I watch TV, and I train sometimes."

"That's it?" 1:59, 1:58, 1:57.

"Yeah." We waited in silence for a while. "Aaahh! I *hate* the 3 minutes you have to wait for Instant Ramen to cook!" Naruto yelled, and I giggled. This didn't seem like the same person that Kyoko had described to me, the same person that the entire town hated. I just couldn't believe that I knew this huge secret about him, something that he didn't even know, and he knew nothing about me.

"My mom thinks I'm possessed," I said and Naruto glanced over at me. 1:24, 1:23, 1:22.

"Huh?"

I took a deep breath. "Do you remember that day that I ditched?" Naruto nodded. "I didn't really...ditch. I transported to my mom's side, and now she thinks I'm some kind of freak. She was like, begging the Hokage to take my "powers" away." I used air quotes around the word 'powers'. I sighed. "I never told anyone that. Not even Shikamaru, and I tell him everything."

"Wow." 0:30, 0:29, 0:28.

"I'm really glad that the Hokage decided not to take away my powers, because I _have_ to become strong. I *have* to."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Because I have to become strong enough to make the Kashuni clan fear me. They've been stepping all over my clan for years, and I'm sick of it. I wanna make them afraid, make them wish they never messed with us. I wanna be strong for my family," I explained. "What about you? Why do you wanna be strong?"

"I kinda want to be Hokage. The Hokage is the _best_ ninja of them all, and everyone has to look up to him. If I was Hokage, then everyone would have to stop disrespecting me and treat me like I'm somebody. Somebody important. Then _everyone_ will have to admit that I'm the best, and that I worked really hard to get there. And I _will._"

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! The beeping blasted through the apartment and Naruto jumped up. "The ramen's done! Yay!" He opened the microwave door and took the cups out, and set them in front of me with four chopsticks. "I wish I had someone to talk to every time I make Instant Ramen. It makes the 3 minutes go by soooo much faster!"

I smiled and started to eat, but I couldn't get Naruto's words out of my head: _Then everyone will have to admit that I'm the best, and that I worked really hard to get there. And I will!_


	5. Best Friends

It was around midnight and Naruto was fast asleep. An overturned bowl of popcorn was lying on the floor, with the small pieces of food scattered all over the floor and the blonde-haired boy next to me was snoring, loudly on my shoulder. I was staring at the blank TV screen, thinking about Naruto and...well, mostly about Naruto. About why the kids in his class were so mean to him. Why the kids in _my_ class were so mean to him when they didn't even know him. Why Kyoko judged him simply by what her brother had told her (_which is why I don't want to tell her about what happened with the transporting,_ I added).

They didn't even know him and they hated him. It wasn't fair. Like how my mom seemed to hate me ever since the transporting thing happened. I figured she would be thrilled, if anything. Why was she so mad at me? I didn't want to be some kind of freak, and a part of me _wanted_ my powers to be taken away so that I could be normal. BUt most of me wanted them to stay, so that I would have a fighting chance against Honako and her clan. A part of me felt like Naruto was the only one who could understand me.


	6. Unexpected Surprise

"Tsunami. Tsunami, wake up!" I moaned and rubbed my eyes with a yawn.

"What?" I murmured and sat up. Naruto was shaking me awake with a big grin on his face. I must have fallen asleep. "What time is it?"

"7:00! But more importantly, that's when Spongebob Squarepants comes on! My favorite show!"

"Spongebob?"

"Yeah! Cartoons on Saturday morning, remember?" Naruto chirped and ran up to the TV and clicked the ON button, and then to the kitchen where he pulled out two more cups of ramen.

"Oh yeah," I said, sitting up and then frowned. "Ramen _again,_ Naruto? Can't we have cereal?" He stared at me in complete shock, like having cereal instead of ramen for breakfast was unheard of for him.

"Uhh...I think I have some Froot Loops," Naruto said and then put the ramen back into the cabinet.

"...Spongebob Squarepants, Spongebob Squarepants, Spongebooob...Squarepaaaantss..." I laid my head on the pillow and watched the happy, yellow sponge run around the screen and Naruto came back with two bowls of Froot Loops, and then with a big carton of milk that spilled most of it all over the carpet.

"I had a lot of fun," I said as we finished up our cereal and the last episode came to an end.

"Really? Me too! We should do this again," Naruto replied and I grinned.

"Okay. How about next Friday?" I suggested and Naruto cocked his head in confusion for a second before grinning madly.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay! Sure, next Friday! Sounds fun!" I giggled. How could Naruto still be so hyper this early in the morning?

"I probably have to get home now," I said, getting up to stretch.

"Do you want me to walk you?" he offered, tearing his eyes away from the TV screen.

"No, that's okay. I know the way."

"Okay. Bye, Tsunami!" Naruto yelled and I waved back at him before exiting the apartment. I glanced at the clock in the hallway-almost 11:30. I would have time to make it home before I met Shikamaru and Choji at noon. The sun was shining down and warming my skin as I walked down the streets of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. My house came into view and I broke into a run. If I didn't hurry up, I was gonna be late-and Shikamaru _hated it_ when I was late.

"Mother!" I called, bursting through the front door. "Daddy! I'm home!" Silence. "I'm back from Kyoko's." My mother emerged from the kitchen, holding a sleeping Rayne.

"Shush, Tsunami! You'll wake him!" she snapped and I clapsed my hands over my mouth, then whispered,

"Sorry. I just got back from Kyoko's house. Can I go meet Shikamaru and Choji now? They'll be mad if I'm late."

"Just a minute, Tsunami. Once your father gets back from his meeting, I have something to tell the whole family."

"Will he be done soon?"

"Yes, he should be home any minute." I went into the living room and sat down on the couch to wait for him.

I stared at the numbers on my TV: 11:56. "Mother, he's still not here. Daddy's late and now he's gonna make _me_ late! Shikamaru's gonna be mad at me."

"Be _patient,_ Tsunami!" my mother yelled, angrily and I sunk down in the couch. She was being meaner than usual.

At that moment, my father came walking in the door with a big smile on his face. "Tsunami! You're home! Did you have a good time at Kyoko's?"

"Yes," I replied and ran up to him. "And I want to go play with Shikamaru and Choji, but Mother says she has something to tell us so she made me wait. Shikamaru gets mad when I'm late."

"Well, I'm sure he'll understand," he said and then looked over at my mother. "What do you have to tell us?"

My mother took a deep breath and shifted Rayne from one arm to the other. "It's really important, that's why I wanted all of you present. I-I'm pregnant." My father froze.

"You're pregnant? That means we're having another baby, right?" I cried, happily and ran up to feel her stomach.

"You're...pregnant?" My father sounded more terrified than happy.

"What's wrong, Daddy?" I asked, rubbing my mom's flat stomach. "Babies are fun."

"Tsunami, why don't you go meet Shikamaru and Choji now? I have to talk to your mother."

"Okay! I can't wait to tell them!" I squealed and ran outside and across town to where they were waiting.

"_Finally!_" Choji cried.

"We've been waiting forever," Shikamaru added, irritably. "I hate it when you make me wait. You're annoying like that."

"Boo hoo," I said and stuck my tongue out at him. "Anyways, I figured you would like waiting. It would give you more time to do nothing." He glared at me. "But I have a good explanation this time. My mom's pregnant again! Isn't that cool?"

"Again?" Shikamaru asked. "Isn't she like, 30? Can moms still have kids at 30?"

"30 _is_ pretty old," Choji agreed and I shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess she still can."

"What do you guys wanna do today?" Choji piped up, changing the subject.

"We could play Tag," I suggested and then punched Shikamaru on the arm. "Tag! You're It!" Choji and I took off just as we heard Shikamaru groan behind us.

"This is such a drag, you guys!"


	7. The Death of Hazuki Halu

"Bye, Naruto!" I called, waving to my best friend as he started down the road to his house after class was over. It had been two months since my mother had announced that she was pregnant, and she was starting to show. I skipped down the street, my house looming into view.

"Lalala!" I sang, loudly, not caring that people were staring and that I probably wasn't a very good singer. I was in a good mood today.

"Mother! I'm home from the Academy!" I called in the house and suddenly remembered that my brother was probably sleeping. _Man, it seems like all Rayne ever does is sleep. And poop,_ I thought, and then frowned. _Why is it so quiet? Usually Mother is yelling at me to be quiet or yelling at me to take off my sandals before stepping on the carpet or yelling at me...about anything really. Where is she?_

Something was wrong. I could feel it.

"Mother?" I called and ran throughout the house, towards my parents' bedroom. My heart was pounding in my ears and my footsteps thudded against the floor and seemed to echo off the wall. I threw open the door and saw my mother kneeling over my father's bloody, mutilated body, sobbing. There was blood splattered all over the walls and soaking into the bed, and I stood there, frozen.

"Mother?" I choked out and she turned around, her face streaked with blood and tears.

"Tsunami!" she cried out and opened her arms to me. I ran towards her and buried my face in her chest while I cried.

"Mommy!" I sobbed. "Who did this?"

"Kashuni," she whispered in my ear. "Remi Kashuni." My eyes flew open and I sucked in a gulp of air.

"K-Kashuni?" _They'll pay,_ I thought, angrily. _They'll pay for taking my daddy away from me._

HAZUKI HALU was put up on the slate of ninja that were KIA. My mother had explained that KIA meant Killed in Action, which I really didn't understand. He wasn't killed in action, he was murdered. There was a funeral, which was where I was now. I was standing in front of the slate with the rest of the mourners in the rain, holding on tightly to each Naruto and Shikamaru's hand.

The Hokage's voice rang in my eardrums, but I wasn't listening. I couldn't hear anything besides the drum of the hard rain hitting the slate, thinking about my father's blood smeared all over his bedroom wall. I sniffled and felt a squeeze from each of the boys next to me and I could feel their concerned eyes on me.

"Hazuki Halu was a good man. I worked with him for many years and we were very close. He will be missed by everyone here, especially his family. I feel especially saddened for Rayne, who barely knew his father and for the growing child inside of Paluna, who never will." I ducked my head down as tears blurred my vision and let out a strangled sob. Shikamaru pulled me into a tight hug and Naruto enclosed my one hand in both of his and squeezed, softly. "But I know that Tsunami will tell them all about how great of a father he was. His legacy will never die, for any of us. Hazuki was a strong ninja, a good husband, a _great_ father, and a kind man. It's a shame that he had to get involved in such a violent disagreement, but Hazuki was the kind of person that stood up for what he believed in. He will never be forgotten."

"I miss him," I sobbed. "I really do."

I felt a hand on my back and looked up to see my mother smiling, kindly down at me. She was carrying Rayne, who was dressed in nice clothing and whimpering because of the rain. _He has no idea what's going on,_ I thought, sadly. _He has no idea that Daddy's dead. That he'll never know him._

"Come on, Tsunami. They're going to put down the flowers. Shikamaru, Naruto, thank you for your support," she said, nodding at each of them and then leading me to the slate of rock with my father's name on it. I ran my fingers over the A in HALU on his name-the last name that binded us together. There were names above and underneath his name, names all around his. To everyone else, his name on this rock meant nothing: it was just another name. No one cared. It didn't matter to anyone else, but I would always be proud that my dad's name was up there. Always.


	8. Not a Quitter

"Tsunami...Tsunami, come on!" Naruto gasped, wiping sweat from his forehead. "I know how...to push myself...more than anyone! But this...is..._crazy!_" He paused to catch his breath. "We've been training nonstop since 9:00 this morning! I'm _starving!_"

I was exhausted, too. I felt like I could barely move. But every time I wanted to take a break, I thought about Honako and it made me push my now 8-year-old body even further.

_"Where's your daddy, Tsunami?"_ Honako's voice from yesterday filled my ears and I clamped my hands over my ears to try to keep the voices out.

"Tsunami, let's go home," Naruto murmured, putting a hand on my shoulder. Naruto wasn't a quitter, so when he was calling it a day, I knew I should, too. Darkness started to slip it's way into the sky as all the other kids retreated to their homes for dinnertime. Naruto and I were training in the forest, where we could have lots of privacy.

"But...Honako..." I struggled to get the words out.

"Come on," was all that Naruto whispered before hoisting me to my feet. "Do you need me to walk you home?" I shook my head.

"No thanks." We slowly walked through the streets of the Village before parting to go to our own seperate houses.

"Thanks, Naruto. You're a good friend," I murmured and he pulled me into a tight hug before turning and running back to his apartment. With a sigh, I trudged back to my own house, my feet feeling like 1000-pound weights.

"Tsunami! Just where the hell have you been?" my mother snapped when I walked in the door. "We've been waiting for you, and now our dinner's cold!"

"Sorry, Mom," I muttered and sat down at the dinner table.

"Sister!" Rayne cried, who was now 3, grinning up at me.

"Hi, Rayne. Sorry for making you wait." I glanced at my one-month-old little sister was giggling at me from across the table. "Hi, Naomi."

"Tsunami, you look filthy!" my mother cried as she put all of our food in the microwave. "What were you doing?"

"I was training with Naruto," I replied.

"I noticed that you're spending an awful lot of time with that boy."

"Of course I am. He's my best friend."

"I thought Kyoko was your best friend!" she cried and I shook my head.

"Not really. For a girl-best friend, then yeah. But Naruto and Shikamaru are my best friends."

"Oh." She served us our food and then sat down to feed Naomi. "Tsunami, I want you to get in the shower after dinner. I don't want you going to bed covered in filth."

I nodded. "Okay, Mother." We were all silent for a while as we ate our food. Even Rayne, who usually flung his dinner at the wall, was calm. "Do you miss Daddy?"

"Of course I do, hon," Mother replied, spooning baby food into Naomi's mouth.

"Are you gonna get married again?" I asked, not sure even _why_ I was asking her these things.

"Not for a long time."

"How long?"

"Maybe I'll start really thinking about myself when Naomi becomes a ninja," she replied and I thought about this. Naomi would be turning 12 and just earning her ninja headband. Rayne would be 15 and already going on lots of daring ninja adventures. I would be 20, shaping a future for myself. Probably married. It was a little scary to think that far ahead.

"Oh." _12 years is a long time to wait,_ I thought, silently but didn't say anything else. I could tell I was making her upset.

"Are you done with your dinner, Tsunami?" she asked, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"What? Yes."

"Get in the shower now, please." I nodded and got up from the table to go towards the bathroom. "I just want what's best for you." I turned to look at her.

"What?"

"I just want what's best for you. Always. Even if it seems like I'm just out to hurt you...I'll always want what's best for you." Her eyes glistened with tears.

"Okay, Mother." I walked to the bathroom and closed the door, thinking about what my mother had said as I stripped down to my birthday suit. I turned on the hot water and tested the temperature of the water before stepping in, and my mind drifted back to last year when my mother had screamed at my father _and the Hokage_ to have my powers taken away. Did she just want what was best for me then?


	9. What's Best For Me

I was lying in my bed a few weeks later, drifting off to sleep when I saw my bedroom door open.

"Tsunami, I need to talk to you once I put Rayne and Naomi to bed, okay?" my mother whispered and I nodded. "Try your best to stay awake, please." I nodded and she disappeared. I heard sniffling and crying for the longest time, but eventually, both of my siblings were quiet and my mother appeared in the doorway once more. She sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Mommy, I'm tired," I murmured. "and I have to go to the Academy tomorrow. Can we talk about this some other time?"

"No, this is important. Besides, you're not going to the Academy tomorrow," she whispered.

"Why not?" She sighed.

"Do you remember last year...when your father was still alive...and you transported to me?" I nodded. "I know you feel like I wasn't being a very good mother, since I wanted your powers to be taken away, but I had my reasons and I want you to hear them. Here, sit up so you won't fall asleep." I obeyed her and stared intently at my mother, eager to hear what she was about to say.

"There are things that your father didn't want you to know yet, but I feel it is necessary to tell you now." Mother took a deep breath. "You are an angel. You were placed in my womb so that you could be birthed into this family, to protect this town. That's why you have special powers that no other ninjas have."

"Because I'm an angel?" I whispered, and she nodded.

"Do you remember the story of the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked the Village 8 years ago?" I nodded, and I immediately thought of Naruto. "The 4th Hokage died trying to save this Village, and sealed the spirit of the Fox inside a newborn baby. Now, the 4th Hokage's wife, Kushina made a deal with the angels up above in heaven. That she would sacrifice her life if one of their angels would come down to earth-"

"That's me," I interrupted and Mother smiled at me.

"Yes. That's you. Kushina made a deal that she would sacrifice her life if they sent one of their angels-you-to earth to protect the Village from future harm and to protect her son."

"Who's her son?" I asked, but she just shook her head.

"The plan would be ruined if I told you. It's best to keep it a secret."

"Do I know him?"

"Yes," she replied, smiling.

"Is that all you had to talk to me about? And why don't I have to go to the Academy tomorrow?" I asked.

"Because there is one last thing that I have to tell you about being an angel." Mother lowered her voice to a whisper. "Angels are like a statue: beautiful and perfect on the outside," I smiled at that. "and cold and hard on the inside."

"What?"

"Angels don't have feelings," she explained. "You have feelings now but as long as you keep your powers, your feelings and emotions will slip away until you become a ninja, and then you really _will_ become like a statue. The people you love: me, Rayne, Naomi...Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kyoko...you won't care about us at all. _That_ was why I wanted your powers to be taken away. Your father and the Hokage-they care about the sake of the Village. And I know this seems selfish of me, but I just want my little girl to be happy." She wiped away tears.

"I don't want to be like a statue!" I cried, sobbing. "I want to be happy, I want to fall in love, I even want to hate Honako! Don't let them turn me into a statue, Mommy!" Mother wrapped her arms around me like I cried, and stroked my hair.

"I won't, baby. We'll go tomorrow and get your powers taken away, okay?"

"Okay," I whimpered.

It was early the next morning and it was raining outside.

"Mother, why did we have to get up so early?" I complained, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

"Because I just put Naomi back to sleep a few hours ago, and Rayne is just starting to sleep through the night, so if we go now, we won't be missed."

"But it's _cold_ outside!" I peered out at the pouring rain and shivered.

"Stop complaining, Tsunami. There's no other way," Mother replied and grabbed my hand before we ran out in the rain. _The last time it rained was at Daddy's funeral. Maybe it's a sign,_ I thought, but dismissed the thought. It was stupid.

"Lord Hokage! Lord Hokage, I need to talk to you!" Mother cried and pounded on his door.

"Paluna, is that you?" the Hokage asked, rubbing his eyes. "It's 5:00 in the morning!" He looked at her and me and then at her again. "Not this again! I said _no,_ Paluna-"

"Please! Please, please, _please_ take my powers away! I don't want them anymore!" I begged, trying hard not to cry. The Hokage looked shocked.

"Are you sure, Tsunami?"

"_Yes!_"

"Well, I-come in," he said, gesturing us inside and we obeyed. "I can't take away your powers, Tsunami. But I _can_ put a chain on them so that you won't be able to use them."

"Okay," I said, nodding and sat down in the middle of the floor.

"Just relax," the Hokage instructed. I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt the Hokage's hands on my back. My insides started to feel warm, and my skin practically glowed. It felt so nice...

The warm, glowy feeling got hotter and hotter until I was scorching hot, inside and out. I squeezed my eyes shut even harder and bit my lip keep from crying out. _It hurts. It hurts more than all of mine and Naruto's training. More than anything I've ever felt..._

I whimpered and clenched my hands into fists, praying that this would be over soon.

"She's fighting me," the Hokage said and my eyes flew open.

"_WHAT?_ No, I'm not!" I shrieked, and the pain was gone in a flash.

"There."

"Are they binded?" Mother asked and the Hokage nodded.

"Yes," he replied and Mother yanked me out the door.

"Thank you!" I called over my shoulder.

"Don't thank him! He didn't do anything for you!" Mother snapped.

"But...he binded my powers. I can feel now, right?"

"What? Oh, yes. Everything is fine." But she still seemed mad.


	10. The First Campout

"Alright, everyone, settle down! I know it's the last day of school, but you all need to remain calm!" Iruka-sensei cried, trying to be heard above the shouts and constant chatter.

"This year's camping trip is gonna be so fun!" Choji whispered to me. He was referring to the field trip that Iruka-sensei took everyone on at the last day of school. He called it a "Survival of the Fittest" challenge, but it was basically just a camping for the weekend to give us a break from training all year.

"Yeah!" I agreed excitedly, eyeing all of our suitcases across the room. "It's gonna _rule!_"

I couldn't wait. Just the thought of chilling and hanging out with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Kyoko, and Naruto all weekend made me want to shout with excitement.

"...let's get going!" Iruka-sensei cried and everyone cheered and ran to the front of the classroom to get their bags.

Shikamaru groand. "I can't wait for this weekend to be over."

"Oh, you're _excited!_ Who wouldn't be?" I cried and grabbed his hand; I dragged him to the front of the class to gather our stuff.

Iruka-sensei led us outside where we met up with a few other classes before we started our hike.

"Tsunami!" Naruto ran up to me, grinning.

"Naruto!" I yelled and gave him a hug.

"I'm allowed to hang out with other classes!" he cried and I shouted,

"Yay!" Something seemed off about Naruto, like something I hadn't noticed before. Butterflies flapped around in my stomach when I saw him, and I tried to push the feeling away, but couldn't.

We started our hike into the forest. I walked with Naruto and Kyoko, and Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba walked behind us. Kyoko seemed slightly uneasy, sending nervous glances Naruto's way.

"Whoa! Kiba, that's against the _rules!_" We heard Choji cry behind us and we turned around. Kiba was hiding a small dog in his jacket.

"Oh My God! He's so _cute!_ What's his name?" I asked, petting the small dog.

"Akamaru. And he's not cute, he's a ninja dog. We'll train alongside each other until one of us dies!" Kiba boasted.

"Cool," Kyoko murmured and Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji reached out to pet Akamaru, too.

"He is _too_ cute!" I argued. "You can be cute and tough at the same time. Like me!" They all burst into a fit of laughter.

"You had all better be laughing with me," I commented, pouting.

"HURRY IT UP, YOU GUYS!" Link yelled from up ahead and we ran to catch up.

"Okay, kids, here's our spot," Iruka-sensei said and a bunch of kids set up their sleeping bags all around, but Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba (and Akamaru), Naruto, Kyoko, and I all set up close to each other.

"What now?" Kyoko asked, sitting cross-legged on her sleeping bag. Kids were running around us, doing a bunch of different things.

"We should go swimming," Kiba suggested, gesturing towards the lake not too far away.

"YEAH!" I yelled. "Everyone remembered to pack their bathing suits, right?" They all nodded. "Let's go!"

We all grabbed our bikinis or swim trunks and changed behind trees.

"Why didn't you change?" I asked Shikamaru as everyone else went charging down the hill, towards the lake.

"I don't feel like swimming," he replied.

"Too bad. You have to," I argued and he shook his head.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you _do!_" I cried and grabbed his sleeping bag and then ran down to the lake.

"Aww, crap. Tsunami, give that back!" he moaned and ran after me. I held it out above the water and dangled it there.

"Come and get _it!_" I mocked and Shikamaru reached out to grab it. Akamaru yapped and jumped up, biting down on the end of it.

"Akamaru, no!" Kiba replied, just as I lost my balance and plunged headfirst into the water. Before I went under, I heard the riiiip of fabric. _Oh man. Shikamaru is gonna be soooo mad at me._

I emerged from the water and looked down at Shikamaru's soaking wet and torn sleeping bag.

"Perfect," he grumbled.

"Shikamaru, I'm so sorry!" I cried. "You can use my sleeping bag!"

"Whatever," he said and walked back to the campsite.

"ShikaMARu!" I moaned, but he ignored me.

"He looked mad!" Choji cried.

"I hope this doesn't ruin our trip," Kyoko pouted and Kiba turned to glare at her.

"Don't you ever think of anyone but yourself?"

"Shut up! It was _your_ stupid dog's fault, anyway!"

"He didn't mean to!" They went on arguing like that while Naruto and Choji stared at me.

"You should-" Naruto started, but I cut him off.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going." I dragged Shikamaru's ruined sleeping bag out of the water and laid it on the grass before returning back to our campsite. Shikamaru was leaning up against a tree, staring at the cloudless sky. I sat down next to him.

"I'm really sorry, Shikamaru."

"It's okay," he murmured.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It was an accident. I'm not mad," Shikamaru replied and I grinned. _Yay! He's not mad!_

"You can use my sleeping bag. And I'll take the blame if your parents are mad," I offered and he nodded.

"Okay."

"Will you kids be _quiet?_" Iruka-sensei hissed, angrily and we burst into a fit of giggles. It was sometime around midnight and we were the only kids left awake. We all had our sleeping bags in a circle around a small campfire that I started (thanks to my firey powers :D), the occasional spark sent flying towards us.

"Will you guys _shut up?_" Sasuke Uchiha grumbled, stomping over to us. Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Kyoko, and I were huddled close together (Kyoko made sure to stay as far away from Kiba as possible) while Naruto was a little farther away. The rest of my friends were only (sort of) nice to him because of me, but I could tell they weren't too crazy about him. "Some of us are trying to sleep!" He stomped back to his sleeping bag and I frowned.

"What happened to Sasuke? He used to be nice."

Kiba shrugged. "I dunno. My parents were talking about it a few weeks ago. Something about his brother."

"Hey, you guys, we should play Truth or Dare," Choji suggested.

"That game's a drag," Shikamaru argued.

"You think everything's a drag, Shikamaru," I shot at him and then smiled at Choji. "I think it sounds fun. Choji, since you thought of it, you can go first."

"Umm...Shikamaru. Truth or dare?" Choji asked the boy next to him.

"Truth."

"Do you like anyone?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "That question's lame." But everyone, even Naruto, was leaning in close for his answer. "No. Kiba, truth or dare?"

"Dare!" Kiba cried, fiercely earning a few "Shh!"s and "Shut up!"s from kids around us.

"I dare you to..." Shikamaru thought for a few seconds and then grinned. "kiss Kyoko!"

"_What?_ No way! I hate her!" Kiba argued, helplessly and Akamaru yelped.

"I hate you, too! No way I'm kissing him!" Kyoko snapped.

"You have to or else you can't play anymore," I said and they both scowled. Kiba puckered his lips and mashed them against Kyoko's; they both immediately shot back, gagging and wiping off their mouths.

"Gross!" Kiba moaned.

"You kiss like an 8-year-old!" Kyoko yelled.

"I _am_ an 8-year-old!" The rest of us giggled at the two arguing, trying to pretend the kiss had never happened.

"I'm gonna beat you up for making me kiss Kyoko, Shikamaru!" Kiba shouted, angrily and Shikamaru smirked.

"Yeah, whatever."

"You guys are _so_ loud!" Sakura complained as she and Ino walked up to us.

"What are you guys doing, anyway?" Ino asked.

"Playing Truth or Dare," Naruto replied.

"Ooh, really? I wanna play!" Sakura cried and Ino nodded, then the two girls glared at each other and sat on opposite sides of the circle. _What happened to them? They used to be best friends,_ I thought, sadly.

"Okay. Kiba, your turn," I said.

"Naruto...truth or dare?" I was surprised that Kiba picked the blonde: Kiba thought Naruto was annoying. Of course, Naruto thought the same way about him.

"Dare."

"I dare you...to throw a rock at Iruka-sensei's tent!" I thought it was really unfair that Iruka-sensei got a tent and everyone else had to tough it out in sleeping bags.

"Aww, man!" he moaned and picked up a rock and went over to Iruka-sensei's tent. Now I knew why Kiba picked Naruto.

"Kiba, you loser, that was mean," I said, angrily. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Iruka-sensei:

"NARUTO!" We started giggling again as Naruto came running back to the campsite so fast that he tripped over Sakura.

"Ow! Watch it!" she snapped.

"Sorry." He sat down in his sleeping bag. "Tsunami, truth or dare."

"Truth." No one had been saying truth for a while.

"Aww, Tsunami, you're no fun!" Kyoko moaned.

"Shikamaru said truth!" I argued and turned back to Naruto.

"Umm..." I expected him to ask me who I liked, and the answer would be no, of course. Wouldn't it? The butterflies-in-my-stomach feeling still hadn't gone away, and I was sort of hoping that someone would dare Naruto to kiss me. I _wanted_ him to kiss me. Did I like Naruto? "Who do you hate the most?" Crap.

"Honako Kashuni!" I cried, confidently. "I _hate_ her!"

"Honako's not so bad," Ino piped up. "She's nice."

"Yeah! To _you!_" I had noticed that ever since Sakura and Ino stopped talking to each other a few weeks ago, Ino and Honako had been hanging out more. Eww. I returned my attention back to the game. "Sakura. Truth or dare?"

"Dare!" I noticed Sasuke sitting at the edge of the lake and grinned. "I dare you to push Sasuke into the lake!" She gasped.

"No! That's mean!"

"It's funny! Now go!" I could see Naruto grinning next to me; Naruto didn't like Sasuke. He thought he was a show-off.

"I'm _not_ pushing him in!" Sakura argued and scrambled to her feet. "In fact, I'm gonna go see what's bothering him!"

"_What?_ No, _I'm_ gonna go see what's bothering him!" Ino said, getting to her feet and they glared at one another before charging down the hill, whisper-yelling Sasuke's name.

"Aww, look what our innocent little game of Truth or Dare has done to them," Kyoko said, grinning as she looked down at Sakura and Ino practically attacking Sasuke down at the lake.

"Speaking of our 'innocent' little game of Truth or Dare," Kiba made air quotes around 'innocent'. "I still have to beat you up for making me kiss Kyoko, Shikamaru!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Do it, I dare ya'!"

"Hey, Tsunami," Naruto whispered, tapping my shoulder and I got nervous and excited. That happened a lot when I was around Naruto now. _Crap,_ I thought, sadly. _I do like Naruto._ "Wanna know who _I_ like?" I brightened.

"Sure!" I smiled, happily at him, hoping him to blush and whisper: 'You.' Instead, he murmured,

"Sakura." His smile faded. "I can't believe she likes that stupid Sasuke. What's so special about him, anyway?"

"Yeah," I whispered. "I don't get it."

What was so special about Naruto, anyway?


	11. Shikamaru Loves Tsunami

*Third Person: Shikamaru's POV*

"Shikamaru. Shikamaru, wake up. Wake _up,_ lazybones!" someone whispered in his ear, while trying to shake him awake.

"What?" he murmured, rolling over in Tsunami's sleeping bag. She had shared with Naruto last night.

"Get up! Hurry." It was Tsunami. He opened his eyes and saw her crouching down next to him in her pajamas, with her bright blue hair all messed up.

"Why?" he whispered, getting out of the sleeping bag. It must have been about 5:00 in the morning, with light starting to creep into the sky and birds chirping while everyone slept.

"It's Kiba," she whispered back and Shikamaru noticed that one sleeping bag was empty and the annoying, yapping dog was gone, too. "He's gonna try to scare Kyoko with a snake. That's why he's down at the lake, he's looking for one."

"_So?_" he hissed, fiercely. He didn't care, and would have liked to sleep for a few more hours.

"_So,_ Iruka-sensei's gonna be really mad when he gets woken up. Come down to the lake with me so we won't get blamed for it."

"Oh. Okay," he agreed and they both quickly and quietly stripped off their outer layer of clothing-they had their bathing suits on under their clothes.

"Alright!" Kiba whisper-yelled from down at the lake and Shikamaru and Tsunami crept down to the water. "You guys, look!" He held up a long, water snake. Harmless, but pretty scary-to a girl. Akamaru whimpered and backed away as the snake twisted in Kiba's fist.

"Kiba, be careful!" Tsunami cried, backing away a few steps.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Akamaru!" Kiba said and charged up the hill, the small dog at his heels.

"Hurry," Shikamaru whispered and grabbed her hand, and they both jumped in the water.

"Brr!" Tsunami said when they resurfaced. She was right-the water was freezing.

"Yeah." They listened for any type of noise coming from the campsite, but it was silent. "What's taking Kiba so long?"

Tsunami shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hey, Tsunami?" Shikamaru asked and she turned to face him. "Why'd you wake me up and not someone else? Like Naruto?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you." He frowned.

"About what?"

"Do you remember when I ditched class that day last year? Well, I didn't. I...transported to my mom's side, and I guess she got really freaked out cuz she took me to the Hokage. He didn't do anything, but my dad told my mom something about me that she didn't know, and she was mad at me for a long time after that." She took a deep breath. "Then my dad died...and my mom told me what he told her...about me."

"What did he say?" Shikamaru asked.

"That I was an angel. Sent from heaven to protect the Leaf Village."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. _Yeah right._

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," she pouted.

"Well, it's pretty far-fetched."

"Naruto believed me." She told Naruto before him?

"You're really telling the truth? You're an angel?" he asked, uneasily and she nodded.

"But Mother told me that as angels get older, they become like stone: hard on the inside, and they have no feelings." Her eyes welled up with tears. "And I didn't _want_ my feelings to go away so I went to the Hokage and got my angel powers binded."

_She really _is _telling the truth!_ he thought as she wiped her eyes.

"And I also sorta..." Tsunami bit her lip and stared up at the sky. "like Naruto."

Shikamaru felt like he had been punched in the gut. "You do?"

Tsunami smiled, shyly and nodded. "Yeah."

An earsplitting scream cut their conversation to a halt. "KIBA! YOU SCUM-EATING PILE OF SHIT!" Kyoko shrieked. It usually made Shikamaru laugh to hear an 8-year-old swear like that, but today he didn't even stir up a smile.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON OUT THERE?" Iruka-sensei screamed and Kiba came tearing down the hill with a furious Kyoko right behind him.

"Hurry up, Akamaru!" Kiba yelped and the small dog bolted out from under a bush, and rocketed himself into the lake with a splash.

"I hope you can swim good cuz you're gonna be joining your stupid dog in the water real soon!" Kyoko snarled, as Kiba stood at the edge of the lake.

"Come on, Kyoko, it was just a joke!"

"You _know_ I'm afraid of snakes, you little buttlicker!" Kyoko yelled and shoved Kiba into the water.

"Aaaahh!" Tsunami yelled, holding up her arms to shield herself from the splash.

Shikamaru found himself staring at her, standing there in her purple bikini, the top covering up boobs that hadn't even grown yet, and her blue hair all drenched as she watched Iruka-sensei come stomping down the hill, his face all red with anger, and Naruto, Choji, and half the class following him, trying to see what was going on. She looked really pretty in her perfect moment, and all of a sudden he _could_ believe that she was an angel. No human being was that beautiful.

Shikamaru shook away those thoughts and tried to push this nervous, excited, bubbly feeling farther and farther down. The same feeling that Choji must have felt when he told him that he thought Ino was "cute". The same feeling Tsunami must have felt when she told him that she liked Naruto a few minutes ago.

_I don't care about her. I don't like her. I _don't! he thought, fiercely, but it was useless. He _did_ like her.

"You guys are _sooo_ immature!" Ino spat, rolling her eyes as Iruka-sensei dragged Kiba out of the water. Shikamaru grimaced. What did Choji see in that brat?

"Yeah, you guys woke everyone up!" Sakura agreed.

"Great job, Tsunami!" Honako yelled and Tsunami rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't _me!_"

"Shikamaru, Tsunami, get out of the water! Everyone else, get back to bed!" Iruka-sensei snapped. Everyone began to retreat back up to the campsite, and Shikamaru and Tsunami waded out of the lake. Iruka-sensei turned to glare at Kiba and Kyoko. "As for _you_ two..."

That was all they heard. Shikamaru and Tsunami changed back into their clothes and by the time they got back, everyone was settled back into their sleeping bag, most of them asleep.

"Tsunami! What happened?" Naruto whispered and she crept in next to him in the sleeping bag and started to tell him the story in a hushed tone.

Scowling, Shikamaru crawled into Tsunami's sleeping bag and rolled over, his back facing the two. He saw Kiba, Kyoko, and Iruka-sensei, followed by Akamaru, making their way up the hill. Kiba and Kyoko were glaring, hatefuly at each other (their hatred towards each other would only grow over time), while Akamaru followed his master with his tail through his legs and Iruka-sensei just looked tired and pissed off.

This whole trip had been a drag, just like he predicted. Shikamaru threw a pillow over his head and tried to pretend he was in his own bed at home, away from all this drama.

**Aww, Shikamaru has a crush on Tsunami!3 This is not gonna be a Shikamaru/Tsunami story, though, so I'm sorry if I disappointed some of you.**

**Love, Rachel**


	12. Tsunami's Birthday

***No One's POV***

The summer came and went, filled with endless days of playing games with friends and swimming in the lake in the forest and just having fun. Now today was October 21st-Tsunami Halu's 9th birthday.

"Happy birthday, Tsunami!" Choji cried, greeting the blue-haired girl with a hug as she walked into the classroom.

"Thanks, Choji," she replied with a smile and took her seat next to Kyoko.

"Happy b-day, Halu," Kyoko said with a grin and Tsunami smiled back at her.

"Thanks, Jalika. I can call you by your last name, too, you know." Kyoko rolled her eyes, and smiled a little bit.

"Happy birthday, Tsunami," Shikamaru said, smiling and shoving his hand in his pockets.

"Thanks, Shikamaru!" Tsunami cried, happily and tucked a lock of her bright blue hair behind her ear before turning her attention to Iruka-sensei at the front of the class. Choji and Shikamaru took their seats as class began, but Shikamaru couldn't concentrate. He had too much on his mind, which usually wasn't why he didn't pay attention in class.

"Hey, Shikamaru. What's up?" Choji whispered, elbowing him lightly in the ribs.

"Nothing," Shikamaru murmured, angrily.

"Are you sure?" Shikamaru snapped a pencil in his fist and turned to the slightly overweight boy.

"I like Tsunami, okay?"

"I know. I like Tsunami, too," Choji said and Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"No. I _like_ Tsunami. Like how you like Ino." Choji blinked in shock.

"Really? That's what's bothering you?" Choji asked and Shikamaru nodded, trying not to blush.

"Yeah. Don't tell anyone, okay? I don't want Tsunami to know."

"Why not?"

"Cuz she likes someone else," Shikamaru answered, bitterly and Choji grew quiet. He knew he shouldn't push. It hurt enough to see Ino drooling over Sasuke all the time, so he knew what it must be like for Shikamaru.

"Who?" _Oh crap,_ Choji thought, frowning, _I wasn't gonna push._

"No one."

"Okay."

"IRUKA-SENSEI! IRUKA-SENSEI! IT'S TSUNAMI'S BIRTHDAY TODAY!" Kiba screamed, jumping up from his seat and waving his arms like a spaz. "WE SHOULD SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

"Kiba, shut up and sit down!" Tsunami scolded him, blushing but the entire class started the song: "Happy birthday to you...happy birthday to you...happy birthday, dear Tsunami...happy birthday to you..."


	13. Halloween

**I made them have holidays like Halloween and Christmas, and I made the Academy like school, to try to modernize it, so you guys can relate to it better. Cuz honestly, they're just like us. Haha.**

**Love, Rachel**

***Tsunami's POV***

"What's _your_ costume gonna be?"

"I'm so excited."

"My mom made it."

"My costume's better than yours!"

"I get to go trick-or-treating _all_ by myself this year!"

Talk of the upcoming hoiday filled all of the 9-year-old's mouths. Halloween was only a few hours away.

"Hey, Halu, you wanna go trick-or-treating with me?" Kyoko asked, poking my arm.

"Can't," I replied. "I'm already going with Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. You can come if you want."

"_Kiba?_ Gross!" she moaned.

"You don't _have_ to come."

"No, I'm coming," she grumbled, then looked at me, curiously. "What about Naruto?"

"What _about_ Naruto?"

"Won't he want to go trick-or-treating with you?"

"I don't know." _Crap. I didn't even think about Naruto!_

The bell rang and everyone ran out for lunch and recess.

"Hi, Tsunami," Naruto said, smiling at me.

"Hey, Naruto," I greeted my best friend with a fake smile.

"What are you doing for Halloween?" he asked as we pulled out our lunches.

"Trick-or-treating with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Kyoko." His face fell.

"Oh."

"You can come if you want," I offered but Naruto shook his head.

"That's okay. Your friends don't like me all that much, anyway." I opened my mouth to deny it, but we both knew it was true. Even if he _was_ my best friend, they still saw him as an outcast.

"I'm still sleeping over tomorrow night, right?" I asked and he nodded. Ever since we had that one sleepover when we were 7, we had made it a tradition of me to sleep over at his house every Friday night. "

"Yeah."

"Good," I said, smiling at him but the rest of our lunch was spent in silence and awkward small talk.

It was later that day as I stood outside of the Academy. I pulled Naruto into a tight hug as everyone departed from the Academy. "I'll see you tomorrow night, kaay? Then we can share candy," I whispered in his ear and then leaned back and smiled at him.

"Tsunami! Hurry up, we gotta get going!" Shikamaru called and I gave Naruto a wide smile before running to meet my other best friend.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," I said, panting to catch my breath and we started down the road to Shikamaru's house. "Do you know where we're all meeting up?"

"Yeah. Kiba, Kyoko, and Choji are gonna meet us at the Academy and then we're all going to Kyoko's house," I said, and Shikamaru nodded.

"Okay." We stopped by Shikamaru's house to pick up his costume and then swung by my house to get mine.

"So what's Naruto doing for Halloween?" Shikamaru asked as we walked to the Academy and I shrugged.

"I don't know."

"Oh, I just thought-" he started, but I cut him off,

"I don't know, okay?"

"Okay..." he murmured and we were silent until we met up with Kiba, Kyoko, and Choji.

"HI, GUYS!" Choji cried, happily. THey were all holding their costues close.

"What's the dog doing here?" Shikamaru moaned, eyeing Akamaru crouching at Kiba's feet.

"We're a package deal! You inite me and you invite Akamaru, too!" Kiba snapped and Shikamaru groaned.

"This is gonna be _such_ a drag!"

"Do we *have* to bring that yappy dog along?" Kyoko grumbled and I rolled my eyes.

"Will everyone shut up? Let's just go to Kyoko's house to change into our costumes so we can get going!" I said and everyone folowed me, grumbling under their breaths.

When we got to Kyoko's, we each took turns changing into our costumes in the bathroom.

I was an angel (ironic, huh?) while Shikamaru was a traveler ninja, and Kiba was the Hokage, Kyoko was a zombie, and Choji was a regular Leaf Ninja.

"Ooh, you all look so _cute!_" Mrs. Jalika gushed and she raised a camera to take our picture.

"Mother, no!" Kyoko moaned and covered her face. "We just wanna go!"

"Oh come on, Kyoko, your mother just wants to catch you at your best hour," Kiba mocked, smirking and she stuck her tongue out at him. Mrs. Jalika stood by, clueless of Kiba's petty insult against her daughter while the rest of us snickered.

"Okay, you guys, let's go!" I cried, trying to distract Kyoko's mother before she figured out the fued between Kiba and Kyoko.

"YEAH!" Choji agreed and we all ran out the door.

"OH MAN, THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!" I cried, happily as we made our way back to Kyoko's house. I was all hyped up on candy as we dragged our pillowcases along the streets.

"Okay, Tsunami, I think you need to cut back on the candy," Shikamaru said, irritably while Choji and Kiba continued to stuff their faces.

"It's _Halloween,_ Shikamaru! Loosen up!" I cried, excitedly and dug in my pillowcase for a piece of candy and then shoved it in his face.

"I don't even like Butterfingers," Shikamaru grumbled and I gasped.

"_How can you not like Butterfingers?_" I shrieked as we arrived at Kyoko's house.

"My mom's making lasagna for everyone," Kyoko said as she put her hand on the doorknob. "Hey, do you guys want to sleep over?"

"BOY-GIRL SLEEPOVER, YEAH!" I screamed while Shikamaru and Choji looked uneasy, and Kiba looked pouty.

"I don't wanna sleep over at _your_ house," Kiba said and Kyoko rolled her eyes.

"Then go home!"

"No, Kiba, stay! Don't pay any attention to Kyoko. We can still have fun," Choji said and then turned to the raven-haired girl on the porch. "Are you sure your mother will let boys sleep over?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe if we all sleep on the trampoline," Kyoko said.

"Yeah! We can sleep on the trampoline you have in the backyard!" I squealed, but Shikamaru just stared at us.

"It's _cold_ out, you guys. I don't want to sleep on a stupid trampoline all night, where I'll freeze my butt off."

"Then we'll bring _lots_ of blankets!" I cried and Kyoko nodded.

"Hold on!" she yelled and disappeared into the house.

"Will her mother let Akamaru come?" Kiba asked, worriedly and I nodded.

"I bet she will."

"YOU GUYS! MY MOTHER SAID YES!" Kyoko yelled, poking her head out the door and gestured us inside. "Come on! Dinner's ready!"

"What about pajamas?" Choji asked.

"Your clothes are here, just sleep in those!" she shouted and disappeared again, while the rest of us followed her inside.

All five of us (six, counting Akamaru) were all huddled together on the trampoline, in a sea of pillows and blankets and candy.

"The stars are really pretty," I whispered as we all stared up into the dark sky, filled with twinkling lights.

"Yeah," Shikamaru agreed while Kiba shrugged and murmured,

"I guess so."

"What do you guys wanna do?" Kyoko asked with a bored sigh and while Kiba and Choji offered up lame ideas, Shikamaru whispered in my ear:

"Tsunami, you wanna tell the scary story I told you and then we can scare everybody?" I looked over at him and grinned.

"Let's do it!" I sat up and turned to face my friends. "We should tell scary stories."

"Scary stories?" Choji whimpered and huddled into his blanket.

"Scary stories? Kick ass!" Kyoko cried and Kiba grinned and nodded.

"I'll go first!" he volunteered, but I shook my head.

"No, I wanna go first. It was my idea."

"Fine, but I call going second," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"Fine!" I reached for the flashlight in front of me (Kyoko's mother gave us each one) and shone it on my face. "There was once this little girl around our age- actually, she was exactly 9 years old. And her parents were gonna be gone all weekend on some dangerous mission, so she was gonna be alone with only her loyal dog to protect her." I leaned over to pet Akamaru. "Like Akamaru." I could see Shikamaru start to slink away from the group, slowly and unnoticed. The other three were too busy staring at me to notice him. "Only this girl's dog was a lot bigger and stronger than Akamaru, so the girl knew she could count on the dog to protect her while her mother and father were gone.

"Anyway, it was later and the girl was reading late into the night. She put her hand over her bed to let the dog lick her hand. It helped her feel safe, because she knew he was there. It was getting late so she decided to go to bed. But something woke her in the middle of the night." Choji clamped his hands over his ears, but then removed them, unsure if he wanted to hear this or not. Kiba clutched Akamaru close to him and Kyoko just stared at me, her eyes wide.

"It sounded like 'drip, drip, drip'. She threw her hand over the side of the bed to let the dog lick her hand in the dark before getting up to go investigate the noise. She heard that it was coming from down the hall in the bathroom. 'Drip, drip, drip'. She heard it again. The girl turned on the light and saw that the sink had been barely left on and was dripping. Drip, drip, drip. She sighed and turned it on. She had been stupid for being scared." I saw my three friends let out a soft sigh of relief. I had them now.

"So she went back to bed and let the dog lick her hand once more before she fell back asleep. Then she woke up the next morning to hear 'drip, drip, drip' again. _I thought I turned the sink off,_ she thought and let the dog lick her hand again. She didn't know why, but it made her feel better. The girl got up to go turn the sink off, but the sink wasn't on. The dripping was coming from behind the shower curtain. So she opened the curtain and saw her dog hung from the ceiling, his blood dripping into the bathtub making a 'drip, drip, drip' noise. Behind the dog, written in blood was: PEOPLE CAN LICK TOO."

Shikamaru licked Choji's hand and hissed, "People can lick too." Choji shrieked and jumped five feet in the air and Kyoko and Kiba screamed and scrambled off the trampoline, too. Shikamaru and I cackled with laughter at our friends' scare.

"Tsunami? Shikamaru? You asswipes!" Kyoko yelled, angrily while Choji wiped tears from his face.

"Whoa, you guys sure got us good!" Kiba said, grinning and Kyoko and Choji started to grin, too.


	14. Finally Not Alone on Christmas

***Third Person: Naruto's POV***

The snow silently and swiftly fell onto the Hidden Leaf Village, covering the quiet village in a blanket of white. The streets were empty and the stores closed, Christmas decorations strung up on nearly every building. A lonely little blonde-haired boy peered out the window of his apartment and watched a small house across the street.

Green and red twinkling lights shone on the outside and pretty snow fell on the front lawn, but the really beautiful thing was what was on the inside. The Christmas tree stood proudly in the window and a warm glow shone from the house. Small children laughed and ran towards the tree fingering the dozens of presents under the decorated tree. Their parents followed with a warm smile on their faces and their arms around each other.

Naruto felt a tug on his heart, seeing a scene that would never be a reality for him. His small apartment was empty and cold and...lonely. That word had been describing him for a while now, especially since Christmas break started. It was Christmas Eve and he was all alone. It shouldn't be a big deal, because he was always alone-besides the time he spent with Tsunami. But today was a day that he couldn't stand to be alone.

He moved away from the window and slipped an orange sweatshirt on over his head before slipping out of his apartment, and out of the building. His sandals made a 'crunch' noise as they stomped down on the snow, and the snowflakes whipped against his face in a flurry. He hugged his arms around himself as he broke into a run. The cold weather froze him from the inside out very quickly so he made sure to get to his destination fast.

The girl's house loomed into view and Naruto stumbled over his feet as he tried to make himself move faster. His face smashed into the cold snow, numbing his nose, cheek, and ears. He pushed himself upwards and walked up to the house and knocked. He could see Tsunami in the window with her little brother, gathered around the Christmas tree. The door opened and Tsunami's mother stood there, holding a small baby girl. _Naomi,_ Naruto thought, recalling the name.

"Naruto...!" Tsunami's mother said, shocked and he heard Tsunami cry:

"NARUTO?" and the scamper of feet. She poked her head out from under her mother's arm and her face lit up when she saw him. "Naruto! What are you doing here?"

What could he say? That he wanted to spend Christmas with the one friend that he had? To invite himself into their home, and intrude on their holiday? It suddenly felt wrong to be here. Maybe he should just go home...

"I just...just wanted to wish you a M-M-Merry Christmas," he whispered, shivering.

"Naruto, you're freezing! Can he come in, Mother?" Tsunami asked, peering up to look at the older woman.

"I-I suppose so," she said.

"Yay!" Tsunami squealed, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. "We can set out cookies and play Christmas music and watch Frosty the Snowman on TV! Oh yeah! And I have your present upstairs!"

"R-really? I can stay?" he asked, and Tsunami beamed.

"Of course you can! He can stay, can't he, Mother?" She looked at her mother, who was frowning.

"Oh, I don't know, Tsunami...this is sort of a family holiday-"

"But I _am_ Naruto's family! I _love_ him, he's my best friend! _Please_ let him stay, Mother, _please!_" she begged and her mother sighed.

"Alright, fine. But include Rayne, I don't want him feeling left out! I'm going to put Naomi to bed."

"Thank you, Mommy, thank you!" Tsunami squealed and then tackled Naruto to the ground in a hug. "This is gonna be so much fun! I'm gonna go get your present from my room!" She scrambled to her feet and ran towards the stairs, but then stopped to look at him. "You got me something, right?"

"Yeah, I just left it at my house," he said, his heart falling. He spent a whole week trying to find the perfect present for Tsunami, and then he forgot to bring it.

"Oh, well that's okay! You can give it to me some other time!" And then she disappeared up the stairs

Naruto couldn't believe that he actually got to spend Christmas with Tsunami, his favorite person in the world. She was right when she said that she was his family- she was like a sister to him, except more. She was his best friend and he did love her. And for the first time, she loved him, too.

**I just want to clear something up...Naruto only loves Tsuami as a sister (as of right now), and he doesn't think of Tsunami the way she likes him in this chapter. I just didn't want anybody to be confused...**

**Rachel**


	15. Terror at Sakura's Birthday Party

It was March 28th, when winter was _finally_ starting the transition into spring, but more importantly, it was Sakura Haruno's birthday. And she made sure that _no one_ forgot her birthday.

"Happy birthday, Sakura!" Choji said with a smile and Sasuke gave a small nod.

"Yeah. Umm...happy birthday. Sakura."

"Really? Thanks, Sasuke!" she squealed and I pouted in my seat.

"Aren't you going to wish Sakura a happy birthday, Tsunami?" Kiba asked, sitting down next to me and I shook my head. "Why not?"

I didn't want Sakura's birthday to be happy, that's why. My small feelings for Naruto had turned into a full-blown crush since Christmas, with me staring at him across the playground and drawing his name with little hearts around it in my notebook. And hearing him go on and on about how awesome and pretty and perfect Sakura was made it so much harder. And more painful.

"Because she didn't wish me happy birthday," I lied. Sakura had been one of the first to acknowledge my birthday.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Man. _Girls_ with their grudges. I don't get them."

"Yeah, whatever, Kiba," I said, grinning and he disappeared as Shikamaru sat down next to me. "Hey, Shikamaru."

"Hi, Tsunami," he murmured and rested his head on the desk.

"Class didn't even start yet. Don't tell me you're tired already," I said and he groaned. "But we're learning all about chakra today. It's important so you have to pay attention." Grumbling, Shikamaru sat up and glanced over at me.

"What's up with you? You're not as...peppy and annoying today." I glared at him and lightly pulled his hair.

"Hey, I just had a disturbing thought," I said, yanking on the ponytail in his hair. "What would you look like if you took your hair out of your ponytail?"

Shikamaru grinned. "You'll never know."

It was later that day and Naruto and I were walking towards Sakura's house for the huge party her parents were throwing for her.

"Wow! I can't believe Sakura invited me! Maybe this is my chance to win her over!" he gushed. I decided not to mention that Sakura complained all day how her mother made her invite Naruto.

"I don't know about that, slick. She invited Sasuke, too," I replied.

"Oh man. Stupid Sasuke always ruins everything," the blonde pouted and I rolled my eyes.

"Relax. He's not the least bit interested."

"Alright!" he yelled with a grin and I giggled.

"Oh hey, there's Sakura's house," I said and we ran up to her house and knocked on the door. Her mother opened the door.

"Oh, hi, Tsunami! Naruto..." She gestured us inside. "Sakura mentioned that you two might show up together!" I nodded and smiled, politely at her while Naruto tried to peek past her, looking for Sakura. "Sakura and the rest are in the backyard. Have fun, kids!" We nodded and Naruto took off at a run towards the backyard; I sprinted after him.

"Naruto, wait!" I called and saw him in the backyard, running towards Sakura. I stopped running and looked around to see Shikamaru waving at me. Sakura's parents had really gone all out-there was a bouncy house and a barbecue and everything.

"Hey, Tsunami," Shikamaru said, walking up to me and I glanced over at him.

"One sec," I said and then called to Naruto: "NARUTO! WE HAVE TO PUT OUR PRESENTS ON THE TABLE OVER THERE!" I gestured to the table that was piled up with gifts.

"Just a second!" he yelled back and I rolled my eyes.

"He's busy trying to be lover boy," I explained as we made our way to the present table.

"And failing," Shikamaru added, pointing towards Sakura swooning over a bored-looking Sasuke, and a frantic Naruto trying to get her attention. "I don't see what's so special about Sasuke, anyway. Why are all the girls so hung up on him?"

I shrugged. "Don't ask me. I don't get it, either."

"Sakura, it looks like everyone's here!" her mother cried, clapping her hands together. She was right: their backyard was crawing with kids. Most of which I knew, but I had never seen some of them before. "It's time for your surprise!"

"Surprise?" Shikamaru groaned. "Does she _need_ anything else?"

"I know. Could that girl be any more spoiled?" I agreed.

"Here it is!" her mother cried and then a man, who was probably her father, emerged as a-

"Clown?" I whimpered, my face paling while Sakura squealed and the rest of the kids cheered and ran around in a frenzy.

"A clown? This party is so lame," Shikamaru said and I gulped.

"Shikamaru, can we leave?" I whimpered. He stared at me.

"Why?"

"I-I don't like clowns." I gripped his arm.

"Why not? I mean, they're more stupid and lame than scary," he said but I just shook my head.

"When I was younger...my dad showed me this scary clown movie and then he tried to scare me, saying there was a clown behind the curtain in the bathroom. I had a dream that night that a clown came to kill me..." I gulped. "And I've been scared of them ever since."

"Okay, we can leave. This party was a drag, anyway. But what about Naruto?" Shikamaru asked.

"I-I'll go tell him I'm leaving with you. Hold on," I whispered and slinked over to where Naruto and Sakura were standing. I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to look at me. "Naruto...I'm-I'm gonna go, okay?"

"What? Why?" he asked.

I lowered my voice. "I don't like clowns."

"Well, hi, little girl! What's the matter?" All color drained from my voice as the happy voice came from behind me. Naruto snickered and Sakura looked clueless.

"Umm...yeah, I'm okay," I murmured, refusing to turn around and face the clown.

"Are you sure? You seem frightened?" The clown put his hand on my shoulder, and I shrieked and dashed towards Shikamaru.

"LET'S GO!" I screamed.


	16. Swimming and Fighting

"So what do you wanna do?" Naruto asked, licking on a vanilla ice cream cone as the hot, summer sun beat down on our shoulders. Sweat dripped down our faces as we clutched our ice cream cones.

"I don't know," I said, wiping the chocolate from my ice cream off my face with my forearm.

"We could go swimming," he suggested and I grinned.

"Yeah! It's super hot out, anyway. We could swim in the lake in the forest. The one that we swam at in the camping trip?"

"YEAH! I love that lake!" Naruto agreed. "I'll just wear my shorts." He was wearing a pair of shorts and his white t-shirt with the Leaf Village symbol on it from when he was 7. I was surprised it still fit.

"I hate swimming in my clothes. I'll just go get my bathing suit from my house," I said and Naruto groaned.

"Come on, Tsunami! I don't wanna walk all the way to your house!"

"Oh, it's not that far. Come on!" I said and grabbed his sticky hand, leading the way.

"Is your mother home?" Naruto asked, uneasily and I giggled. My mother scared Naruto...a lot.

"No, I don't think so. She works at the grocery store down the street from my house during the week and Rayne and Naomi are at Day Care," I explained as my house came into view.

"Okay. Good." I slipped into the house, Naruto behind me and I led him to my room. "I think Mother washed my bikini last weekend so they should be in the dresser..." I opened the top drawer and looked through all my clothes. A flash of light purple caught my eye and I pulled out the two-piece. "Here it is!"

"Awesome!" Naruto cried and I turned around to glance at him.

"Naruto, turn around, I'm gonna change."

"WHAT? Do it in the bathroom!" he yelped, helplessly.

"No, I don't wanna!" I shot back and turned my back to him and started to take off my top. I put on the bikini top and glanced back at him. He was glancing around the room-anywhere but at me-and humming, softly to himself. "Naruto, can you tie this? I can't do it by myself." Uneasily, he got up from my bed and made his way towards me. Naruto fumbily tied my bikini just as my bedroom door opened.

"Tsunami! What the hell is going on in here?" my mother cried, panicky and Naruto shot to the other side of the room like a jackrabbit.

"What? Nothing, Mother! He was helping me put on my bathi-" I started, but she cut me off.

"I _knew_ there was something going on between you two!" she snapped.

"Mom, we're nine!" I shot back.

"I never liked you!" my mother shrieked, pointing a finger at Naruto. "You're a filthy rat, that's what you are!"

"Mother, stop it!" I yelled, angrily.

"He's an outcast! A freak! He will _never_ be accepted in this house again!" she screamed.

"Don't you _dare_ talk about him like that! You are a depressed, selfish, crazy _whore_ and Naruto will _always_ be better than you will ever be! I don't ever wanna see you talk about any of my friends like that again!" I shouted and she just stared at me in shock. I turned to look at a terrified Naruto. "Let's go, Naruto." I brushed past my mother and Naruto scampered after me.

"You stupid little bitch! I'll teach you to talk to me like that!" Mother screamed after me, but I just ignored her and walked out the door.

"Oh man, Tsunami! What was all that about?" Naruto cried, frantically.

"I wasn't gonna let her talk about you like that!" I said, and he smiled, sheepishly.

"Thanks, Tsunami. No one else would have stood up for me," he murmured.

"No problem," I replied and then looked down at my outfit of shorts and a bikini top. "Oh crap. Now I'm gonna have to swim in this."

"Don't be such a baby, Tsunami. Just do it!" Naruto cried with a grin as we started towards the forest. "Man, it's so _hot_ out! How far away is the lake? Do you even remember how to get there? Cuz I don't."

"Oh _Gawd,_ Naruto! What would you do without me?" I asked and he stared at the sky.

"I dunno, Tsunami...I don't know what I did before I met you." He flashed me a smile and the chatter and noise of the village faded away and the quiet stillness of the forest was all we could hear. We were both quiet as I led the way to the lake.

"Here it is!" I cried, gesturing to the lake in the distant future.

"Yeah!" Naruto yelled, and broke into a run towards the clear water.

"Naruto, wait up!" I called and ran after him.

"WHOO-HOO!" He did a cannonball into the lake, splashing me with the water. I laughed and jumped in after him. When I emerged from the surface of the water, I heard a loud laugh and a pair of hands pushing my head down. I yelped and splashed my hands like a spaz while Naruto tackled me underwater. I screamed Naruto's name underwater but it only came out in bubbles. I pushed my way to the surface and gasped for breath; Naruto came up seconds later.

"Naruto, you buttmunch, I could have died!" I scolded, giggling but he just grinned, goofily at me.

"I wouldn't let you die, Tsunami! I'll always have your back just like you had my back today!"

I nodded. "I'll always have your back, Naruto," I promised. The water dampened his bright, blonde hair and made it fall in his blue eyes, that shined brighter than ever. Those eyes stared into mine and I felt myself blushing. "I-I have to take my sandals off. They're weighing me down." I tore my gaze away from him and slowly swam towards the shore. I crouched down to take my sandals off when I heard a voice:

"Oh, would you look at this? Some little kids playing in our lake!" I looked up and saw two ninja boys straight out of the Academy staring, menacingly down at me.

"Yeah, I see it! Maybe we should teach these kids a lesson!" I tried not to show how terrified I was. I didn't want Naruto _or_ the boys to see how terrified I was. *What kind of ninja would I be if I wimped out now?* Yet I couldn't move.

"Leave her alone!" Naruto yelled, angrily and stood in front of me, his fists raised.

"Naruto!"

"A real tough guy, huh? Nice try, squirt, but we're gonna take you down!" one of them said, laughing.

"We're nine! What is this gonna prove?" I asked.

"That _no one_ messes with us, no matter how big-" He smirked down at Naruto. "or small!"

"Urghh..." Naruto growled as the other raised his fist.

"Lights out!"

_They're not even gonna use jutsus? Just gonna punch him out and move on?_ I thought in disgust. Was this what ninja were really like? What Naruto and I would soon become?

"Aaahh!" Naruto screamed and grabbed the boy's wrist and then kicked him in the shin. The boy's hand flew to his leg, with a grunt.

"You little shrimp! You'll pay for that!" the other one cried and Naruto kicked him right in the... I giggled as the boy went down with a groan, his hand on his crotch.

"Ch-cheap shot!" the boy gasped but Naruto just rolled his eyes and then turned around to face me, sitting on my butt.

"Naruto..." I was at a loss for words.

"No one picks on my girl and gets away with it!" he beamed, grinning and extended his hand.


	17. The Truth

I sat, silently in my seat as everyone around me whispered and gossippd about Naruto vandalizing the Academy.

"Why would he do such a thing?"

"Where did he learn those _words?_"

"Figures _he_ was the one who did it. He's got the Nine-Tailed Fox inside him!"

"Shh! We're not allowed to talk about that!"

"He's got no parents to tell him what's right and wrong!"

"Stupid kid."

It would kill Naruto to hear what my classates were saying about him. But then again, he _did_ want the attention. _Maybe it's worth it to have all those bad things said about him as long as they're talking about him. Paying _attention_ to him._ I thought. _What would my classmates say if they knew I helped Naruto vandalize the Academy?_

My mother had really let me have it when I came home after midnight that night. She screamed so loud that some people called for the authorities, and the two men with flashlight came by our house. I thought for sure that they knew it was me who helped Naruto write all those dirty words on my school, but they just came here because of all the complaints of my mother's screaming.

"Kids, kids, settle down. The vandalism on the Academy is being taken care of, so there's no need to keep focusing on it," Iruka-sensei said, but the kids kept talking and gossiping.

"Did Naruto say anything to you about vandalizing the Academy?" Shikamaru murmured to me.

"Why?" I asked, stiffly.

"Well, I figured if he would tell anyone, it would be you. Maybe even try to string you along." He grinned and I faked a smile. What would Shikamaru say if I told him it was my idea? That I helped Naruto swipe the red paint from the store? That I gave him all the ideas for bad words, because of the ones I'd heard Kyoko say?

"Yeah," I whispered and then looked over at Shikamaru. "And uh, no...he didn't say anything to me about it." It seemed like lying to my two best friends was becoming a habit.

"Oh."

"Hey! Come on, settle down!" Iruka-sensei barked and everyone became silent. "Good. I know we usually go outside and run laps or do _some kind_ of training exercise, but today is an exception."

"An exception? Yeah right! It was because Naruto vandalized the academy!" Kiba cried and everyone giggled.

"No, it is _not_ because of that!" Iruka-sensei snapped, angrily. "It's because of a very important lesson that we have planned for today. Now if everyone would please flip to page 97."

"Books? We haven't used those since we were 8!" Kyoko complained as the flipping of pages filled the quiet room.

"I know, Kyoko, but this is important," Iruka-sensei said. Page 95, page 96, page...97. I ran my hands over the page as my breath got caught in my throat. The title read: ANGELS with a picture below of a beautiful, _perfect_ woman with long, delicate wings. I felt Shikamaru's eyes on me, but chose to ignore him.

"_Angels?_ Why are we learning about them? Are they even _real?_" Choji cried and Iruka-sensei laughed and shook his head.

"Of _course_ they're real! And we're learning about them because sometimes angels are called down from heaven to protect a certain village or person," he explained, and Ino's hand shot in the air.

"Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei!"

"Yes, Ino?"

"Are we learning about this because an angel was sent down from heaven to protect _our_ village?" she asked.

Iruka-sensei grinned. "Exactly. Nothing gets by you, huh, Ino?" The room suddenly exploded in murmurs and whispers.

"You've got to be kidding!" Kiba yelled, but Iruka-sensei just shook his head.

"No, Kiba, I'm afraid I'm not."

"Well, who is it?" Sakura asked, flailing her arm around. "Do you know who it is?"

"Yes, actually I do," he replied. "but I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Sasuke asked, irritably.

"Because the Hokage doesn't wish for me to give out her name just yet. But when she's ready, she'll tell you. All of you."

My hand shot in the air. "Why would she have to tell _everyone?_ Sure, maybe she'll want to tell a few people but does she have to tell her entire class?"

"Yes, Tsunami, I'm afraid so. As soon as she has full control over her powers, it will be required for her to tell anyone and everyone who will need her assistance about who she is."

"What do you mean?" I asked and Iruka-sensei sighed.

"Angels have certain powers that other ninjas don't have. Such as healing powers, the ability to form a shield around themselves or others, and being able to appear at anyone's side that calls her to them. Once the angel has a good grasp on her powers, she will need to tell everyone in the village so that if, while they are on a mission and need her help, they can call her and she will appear by their side for assistance. That is her duty as a protector of the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

I lowered my hand. "Oh."

"Now if I may start the lesson," Iruka-sensei said. "Angels look just like we do, they act just like we do, so being able to guess which person in the village is next to impossible. They are put into a woman's womb so that the angel may be birthed into a certain family, and will inherit that family's special jutsu or powers. The special powers that they are given are the only thing that differs them from us. Well, except for one thing."

I stared down at my lap, preparing Iruka-sensei to start talking about how angels don't have feelings. How they're like statues, how they're selfish and cold on the inside. How they're not even like people.

"Their feelings...are magnified. They feel with all their might, because their powers and their emotions are all that they have. They can love someone to the point where it hurts and hate someone so much that it can make them want to kill that person. Any happy feeling...any misery or _any_ feeling that you feel, really...is _nothing_ compared to what they feel."

I couldn't hear anything after that. My mother lied to me about angels not feeling anything. She _lied to me._ Just to get me to go along with taking my powers away. But now I wanted them back. I could feel tears sliding down my face and saw them landing on the page of the book with a plop! Shikamaru put his hand on my shoulder and I could hear Iruka-sensei still talking, but none of it made sense. None of it was real. Everything got blocked out and the only thing I could see were my tears on that page and the only thing I could hear were my mother's words deceiving me.

"Tsunami..." Shikamaru murmured and wrapped his arm around me in a hug and I shook with silent sobs.

"Can I get them back, Shikamaru? Can I?" I whispered, my tears staining his shirt.

I came straight home from the Academy, fully ready to face my mother. I had told Naruto that I was tired from a long day at the Academy and wasn't up for hanging out today.

"Mother, I'm home from the Academy!" I called and she emerged from the kitchen.

"You're home early. Did you and Naruto have a fight?" my mother asked, and I shook my head. _Besides the petty argument we got in over the stupid goggles he's wearing now, then no._

"No."

"What are you doing home so soon then?" she asked.

"It's almost like you don't want me here," I said, jokingly and she smiled, softly.

"Don't be ridiculous, honey. So-"

"Why did you lie to me?" I blurted out and she stared at me.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, innocently.

"You _know_ what I'm talking about, Mother!" I snapped. "We learned about angels in class today! And Iruka-sensei said that angels _do_ feel, they feel more than anyone! So _why_ did you lie to me?" I was screaming now.

"BECAUSE YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND!" she shrieked, tears streaming down her face. "Remi Kashuni would never have killed Hazuki if it hadn't been for you!"

"You're lying!" I yelled, sobbing.

"No...no, I'm not. Remi was asking Hazuki for her powers, so he could make them his own and Hazuki refused, so he _killed_ him." She raised her voice, and pointed an accusing finger at me. "IT'S YOUR FAULT!"

"No..." I whispered, more tears threatening to spill over. "No, it's not my fault. It...it can't be."

"Hazuki was the most important thing in the world to me...he was a part of me and you _killed_ him. You killed me." She turned her gaze from the floor to at me. "So I killed a part of you, too."

"Mother, how could you?" I whispered. "How could you do that to me? To your own daughter?"

"YOU ARE NOT MY DAUGHTER! AND YOU _NEVER_ WERE!" my mother shrieked, and stormed to the door. She whipped back to look at me. "I'm going to pick up Rayne and Naomi from Day Care. You know...my _real_ children!" And then she left.

I took a deep breath and curled my hands into fists as I stared at the door that she had walked out on. She was coming back in about a half an hour, but she had just walked out on me in a metaphorical sense.

I lifted up my fist and saw it smoldering with fire. Literally. There was fire completely covering my fist, the flames licking the cool air and I was suddenly filled with rage. It absolutely was _not_ my fault for my father's murder. _Father was murdered because Remi Kashuni is a jerk._

I turned and whipped my fireball across the room, where it hit my mother's lamp, which burst into flames and tipped over, quickly making the blanket and couch catch on fire. I watched in amazement as the fire lept from object to object, the fire getting bigger and bigger every second, the flames roaring, trying to lick at the ceiling, at the walls, at _me._

My anger overcame me so much that I couldn't feel how hot the room was getting, I couldn't even feel scared. I couldn't hear the screams and commotion coming from outside and I didn't hear the front door burst open either.

"Little girl! It's not safe in here!" a ninja cried, and lifted me in his arms before carrying me outside. No, it certainly wasn't safe for me in that house.


	18. Sexy Jutsu

"Oh wow, Tsunami. I can't believe your house burned down," Naruto said. "Where are you gonna live now?" I shrugged and wrapped the thin blanket tighter around my shoulders. My mother had taken Rayne and Naomi to my grandparents' house, but had said that she never wanted me near her children, so I was forced to find somewhere else to stay. A.K.A. Naruto's apartment.

"Whatever place that my mom finds, I guess," I replied, pretending to focus all my attention on the TV screen.

"Will your mom let you live with her again?" Naruto asked and I sighed.

"She has to, Naruto. I'm her daughter, through blood. She can say that I'm not really her daughter, but she gave birth to me so technically she _has_ to take care of me." I sighed again. I sounded a lot more confident than I felt. What if she _didn't_ have to take care of me? What would I do then?

"What if she doesn't have to take care of you?" Naruto whispered. We were both huddled together on the couch around two in the morning, watching some sort of cartoon so he tried to be quiet as not to disturb his neighbors.

"Well then, I don't know," I admitted, staring down at my hands, which Naruto quickly grabbed one and squeezed.

"You can always stay with me." I looked up at him.

"Really?"

He grinned. "Yeah! It'll be a blast!"

"Hey you! Be quiet down there!" someone screamed from upstairs and stomped on their floor, making the ceiling shake slightly,

"Sorry!" Naruto called and I giggled.

"Good going, slick." But the happiness didn't last long, and I was soon depressed again.

"Hey! You wanna see something that will cheer you up big time?" Naruto asked, grinning and jumping up from the couch. I nodded.

"Sure."

Naruto made his hand sign and cried: "Transform!"

"Naruto, what are you-?" I started but then saw a beautiful, naked, blonde woman standing in front of me. She was like a girl version of Naruto!

"Hi there, Tsunami. Do you like my new technique?" the girl asked and I giggled.

"Naruto! Where did you learn that?" I cried, grinning and he changed back into his regular self through a puff of smoke.

"I call it my Sexy Jutsu!" he proclaimed, proudly.

"Where did you learn to do that?" I asked him and he plopped back down on the couch.

"It took a _lot_ of practice! First I had to watch lots of girls on the streets and read girly magazines and watch girls in the bath!" he explained and I gasped and punched him on the arm.

"Naruto, you little pervert! That's creepy on so many levels!"

"What? I had to do what I had to do! Don't you like my jutsu?" he asked.

I giggled and facepalmed. "Of course I like your jutsu, I just can't believe..." I shook my head. "Never mind. But you're right. It _did_ cheer me up."

"I told you it would!" Naruto cried, happily.

"Do you know what else would cheer me up?" I asked and he stared at me, curiously.

"What?"

"IF YOU TAKE OFF THOSE STUPID GOGGLES!" I shrieked, and flicked the green goggles resting on his forehead.

"NO! NEVER!" he screamed back, resulting in many yells and complaints from his irritated neighbors.

"Sorry!" we both called, meekly.


	19. Valentine's Day

***Third Person: Shikamaru's POV***

"Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!" Ino cried, bursting through the front door and parading down the aisles, throwing candy at random students.

"Here you go, Tsunami! Shikamaru!" Ino said, giving him and Tsunami each a sucker and Choji looked hopeful.

"Hi, Ino! Do you have anything for me?" he asked and she frowned.

"Umm...sorry, Choji, but I don't think there's any left," Ino admitted. "Maybe next year!" And then she skipped away, leaving Choji feeling sad.

"Here, Choji. I don't want it," Shikamaru said, sliding his sucker over to Choji.

"Thanks!" Choji cried and quickly unwrapped it and shoved it in his mouth.

By the end of the day, pretty much everyone got a fair amount of candy. Some more or less than others but everyone got at least one piece.

"Hey, Shikamaru," Tsunami whispered, poking him in the shoulder and I turned to look at her.

"What?" he whispered back.

"I have something for you," she said and slid an envelope with a piece of chocolate taped to it over to him.

"What's this?" Shikamaru asked, turning the envelope over and seeing his name written in neat handwriting on the front.

"Something I wrote for you. Open it when you're alone," she instructed and he nodded, putting the letter and piece of candy in his pocket. Everyone was clearing out of the classroom and Tsunami split to go talk to Naruto.

Shikamaru got up and slipped into the boy's bathroom and sat down in a stall to open the letter. He shoved the piece of chocolate in his pocket and then tore open the envelope to get to the smooth piece of paper:

_Dear Shikamaru,_

_We sure have been friends for a really long time, huh? It isn't all that long, but it sure seems like it and I really hope that we can still be friends after we graduate from the Academy. It would just break my heart if we drifted apart, because you're my best friend. I met you when I was 7, on my first day of the Academy when you were the only one who was nice to me. You were my first friend, and I met you before I even met Naruto._

_You're the one that I can really talk to about important things, or anything at all because you're my closest friend and I can tell you anything because I know you can keep a secret. That's part of the reason why I didn't tell Kiba or Kyoko about the whole angel thing, because they would just blurt it to the entire class. I guess those two have a lot more in common than they thought, huh? Haha._

_But seriously, I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me because I don't think I've ever really told you that, and I just really wanted you to know._

_Love, Tsunami_

***Third Person: Naruto's POV***

Naruto was eating ramen for dinner after Tsunami went home when he noticed an envelope with NARUTO written on it and a ramen coupon taped to it. _That wasn't there a few minutes ago,_ he thought, curiously and reached over to take the letter out of the envelope.

"Hey, it's from Tsunami," he said and started to read:

_Dear Naruto,_

_I know that you've been having a hard time lately and it makes me really sad to see you so unhappy. Espcecially seeing you unhappy because of what the stupid people in our stupid village think about you. You really don't have to pull all these stupid stunts to get people to notice you, Naruto, because I can promise you that someday people _will_ notice you, when you become Hokage, and even before then._

_You are a really amazing person and will become an extremely strong ninja and you're my best friend. And you will be forever, if it's up to me. I truly believe that you can and will be Hokage, and I believe in you 100%. You're my best friend and I love you, and I really think that's all you need. You have me and Iruka-sensei and the people at the Imichi ramen shop, and I know that's not a lot, but I think it should be enough. But I guess if you disagree, that's your choice._

_I just wanted to let you know all of these things, because I never told you._

_Love, Tsunami_


	20. Training Gone Wrong

***Tsunami's POV***

I was sitting on the floor of my classroom in the Academy, criss-cross applesauce style, with my eyes squeezed shut. It was late at night during the summer, so no one had been in here for a good 2 months, so I had complete privacy. Which I needed since my mother practically strangled me every time I tried to train.

I had been trying to train myself to get my angel powers back, but I felt the binding that the Hokage had put on me interfere, so I had been focusing on my fire powers. I squeezed my eyes shut harder and tried to summon up a ring of fire.

I could feel the heat and smell smoke and I felt a smile tug on the edges of my lips. I was getting stronger every day! Even _without_ my angel powers! I opened my eyes and gasped to see nearly the entire classroom on fire.

"Oh no!" I yelped and jumped to my feet. I ran towards the foor, but flames jumped in my way, almost the entire classroom filled with flames and smoke. My eyes watered and I coughed into my elbow as I wildly searched for a way out. _The window!_ I thought and quickly ran across the room to the small window that I had gotten into the classrom from. I struggled to hoist it upwards and then flung myself outwards, rolling down a hill.

When I got to the bottom, I lay in the cold, dew-filled grass and stared up at the stars just as another coughing fit came over me. I curled into a ball as my lungs tried to rid itself of all the smoke I had inhaled. Why did I have to set everything on fire? I guess I wasn't as strong as I thought, if I can't even control my fire powers. _If I can't even control my fire powers, how can I be expected to control my angel powers?_

"Oh My God!"

"The Academy, it's on fire!"

"Put it out, hurry!"

"Is there anyone inside?"

Ninjas from the village ran to the Academy in a wild panic as they tried to put out the fire. I got to my feet and ran away from the Academy, hiding in the shadows so I wouldn't be seen.

"How did the fire get started?"

"I think it was arson!"

"Who could have done such a thing?"

I let my feet carry me far away from there as my heart pumped in my chest, wildly. _What if someone saw me? What if they figured out it was me? I mean, my family specializes in fire powers and my house burned down and now this? They _have_ to know!_ I whipped open the door to the apartment building and sped up the stairs, my feet thumping on each step.

The Hokage had found an apartment for us in the same apartment building that Naruto lived in, which was extremely convenient. When Naruto found out, he freaked. I flew down the hallway and dug my apartment key out of my pocket before rushing inside and collapsing on my bed.

I knew that once Naruto heard about the Academy, he would be all over me asking me if I did it, and normally I would tell him but it just scared the crap out of me to let anybody in on my accidental stunt.


	21. Questions, Questions, Questions

"Hey, Tsunami, want some ramen?" Naruto called from his kitchen and I shook my head.

"No, Naruto, I'm all ramen-ed out. And also, Shikamaru told me that ramen is made out of lard yesterday and I just don't know if I can look at a bowl of ramen the same way," I replied and he emerged from the kitchen.

"No way!"

"No way what?" I asked.

"No way is ramen made out of lard! It tastes _way_ to good to be made out of something so gross!" Naruto argued.

"People make cakes and cookies and a bunch of other stuff out of ingredients that would be gross on their own, Uzumaki. Just face it-you're eating lard!" He wrinkled his nose and disappeared into the kitchen again.

"I don't care if it's lard! It's still my favorite food and I'm not gonna stop eating it!" he cried and I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't say you had to stop eating it, Naruto. I was just telling you what it was made out of."

"Well, even so," he said, putting a cup of Instant Ramen in the microwave and pressing a button. "I can't believe someone tried to burn the Academy down. Do you have any idea who it is?"

"How would I know that?" I asked, uneasily as he waited for the 3 minutes to be up on the microwave.

"I don't know. I was just wondering if you had any ideas. _I_ think it was Sasuke!" Naruto proclaimed and I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"You're just out to get Sasuke. Why would he try to burn down the Academy?" I asked. Note I said 'tried'. The ninjas of the Leaf Village had managed to put the Academy out before it completely burned down, and now every ninja in the village was working to rebuild it.

"Who knows? He's so _angry_ all the time!" Naruto cried and then grinned. "Hey, do you think you could go around and tell everyone it was me?" Naruto had cut back on pulling attention-seeking stunts since he got my letter on Valentine's Day, but I guess he was starting up again.

"What? Naruto, _no!_ Do you know how much trouble you could get in for arson? I won't let you do that to yourself! People won't only notice you, they will _hate_ yo-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Naruto moaned and then grumbled under his breath. BEEP BEEP BEEP! "Ooh, the ramen's done!" He quickly grabbed the steaming hot cup from the microwave and sat down next to me with it.

"Have fun with your cup of lard," I mocked and he rolled his eyes at me.

"I will, thank you!"

"So did you hear about the Academy almost burning down?" Shikamaru asked. We were both lying on his favorite bench, watching the clouds.

"No, Shikamaru, I had no idea even though everyone I know is talking about it and I see the charred remains every time I walk to Kyoko's house," I replied, sarcastically.

"You don't have to be mean," he joked and then sighed. "Who do yo think did it?"

"Naruto asked me the same thing," I said and Shikamaru tore his gaze away from the clouds to look at me.

"What did you tell him?"

"That I don't know."

"Did you tell him the truth? I mean, do you _really_ know who did it?" he asked and I started to feel weird.

"Of course I told him the truth, just like I'm telling you the truth. Why would I lie?" I asked.

"I don't know. Why would you?" he asked and I sighed.

"You don't believe me, do you?" _Well if Shikamaru already suspects something, then maybe I should just tell him,_ I thought, but my words of advice to Naruto rang in my ears: 'Do you know how much trouble you could get in for arson? I won't let you do that to yourself! People won't only notice you, they'll _hate_ you!'

"No, I do," he said and I nodded.

"Okay, good." I had to take my own advice.


	22. Naruto's Birthday

"Happy birthday, Naruto!" I squealed, giving him a big hug as we exited our apartment building. "Only one more year until you're twelve, and you get to graduate the Academy!"

"Thanks, Tsunami," he said, smiling. "Did you get me anything special?"

"Sure did! I'm gonna give it to you after the Academy, so it will build up suspense," I explained and he groaned.

"Oh come on, Tsunami, just give it to me now!"

"Nope," I refused, stubbornly, crossing my arms in front of my chest as we walked down the street.

"Can I guess at least?" he asked and I shrugged.

"Sure. But if you guess it right, I'm not gonna tell you."

"Tsunami!" he moaned and I giggled.

"Sorry, squirt."

"Squirt? I'm taller than _you!_"

I shook my head. "No way!" He measured our heads and came up with about an inch difference.

"See? I _am_ taller!" he protested, happily.

"Yeah, by about half an inch. Live it up, Naruto!" I joked and he grinned.

"Hey, do you think Sakura will remember my birthday?" Naruto asked and my heart sank.

"I don't know," I replied, bitterly. *Why does it always have to be about Sakura? What's does she have that I don't? A big forehead?* That thought made me smirk, and Naruto looked at me, curiously.

"What's so funny?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Hey, you'd better hurry up or you're gonna be late," I said, pointing to all the kids scampering inside the Academy.

"Oh yeah! Thanks, Tsunami!" he cried and sped off towards the large building.

I took my time walking towards the Academy. This building had suffered through vandalism and arson...Naruto and I had really damaged this place. A smile tugged on my lips, thinking about how much an influence our little jokes had had on everyone in the village. I pushed open the doors and made my way to my classroom, giving the Academy a silent apology.

I waited outside the Academy for Naruto, and when he finally did come out, he came stomping out with a scowl on his face. Not at all what I had imagined he would look like.

"What's wrong?" I asked as we started our walk home.

"You're the only one who remembered my birthday," he murmured.

"Oh. I'm sorry," I admitted, but I silently knew that would be the case.

"I don't care," he lied, crossing his arms over his chest and pointing his face towards the sky, stubbornly.

"Oh well, good. You _shouldn't_ care what losers like them think, anyway," I said, pretending to believe his lie. "Do you want your present now?" His face lit up at the mention of his present.

"YEAH!"

"Come on!" I cried and we both ran to our apartment building and up to my apartment. I opened the door and searched under my bed for the neatly-wrapped box. I gave it to him and he began to tear it open. "Sorry if it wasn't what you expected, but I thought this would go good with your goggles."

He lifted up a plain black t-shirt with a blank expression on his face, so it was hard to say if he was pleased with his gift or not.

"I saw that your orange sweatshirt and all your other clothes were getting too small, so..." I said and he grinned.

"Thanks, Tsunami! You're the best!" he squeezed me in a big hug and I blushed.

"You like it? Really?"

"Are you kidding? I love it!" Naruto yelled and ripped off his orange sweatshirt and the white t-shirt he wore under it, and replaced it with the black one. It fit almost perfectly.

"Alright! I look hot!" he shouted and I laughed.

"Oh yeah. Sexy."


	23. Honako's Booth

The snow was slowly falling outside, covering the empty streets. It was Christmas Eve and I was sitting at a booth at my favorite diner instead of home with my family, or with Naruto. For some reason, I just felt like being alone. I let my head rest on my arms as I waited for my order, and I stared out at the empty streets in peace.

"Would you look at this? The freak is sitting in my booth." I looked up and saw Honako standing there, with her hands on her hips.

"I don't see your name on it," I replied and she smirked and pointed to HONAKO carved into the table. _Damn,_ I thought. "Oh, I'm sorry was that supposed to be your name? I was looking for something like 'tramp'."

"What are you even doing here? I bet you can't even afford to eat here, you're so poor," she shot back and I rolled my eyes, eyeing Remi Kashuni and a redheaded woman who I assumed was her mother ordering at the counter.

"And where did you get the money? Make out with the guy at the counter?" I asked.

"Don't have to. My family isn't so poor that it has to move into a crappy apartment building because they couldn't pay the bills."

"Proves what you know. Our house burned down, you stupid skank."

"Oh really? Cuz a lot of people are saying that it was arson. And you were the only one there when the fire started."

I narrowed my eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

"Oh wow, you're stupider than I thought," she said, scoffing and I got to my feet and shoved past her.

"Can I get my food to go?" I asked the counter man and he reluctantly nodded.

"Okay, sure," he said. I could feel Remi Kashuni's eyes on me and chose to ignore me while I waited for my food in a bag. "Here you go." The cashier slid the bag to me and I nodded, having already paid, and turned to leave.

Honako smirked and waved at me, but I just rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at her before leaving the diner. I shoved the bag of food under my shirt and covered my head before sprinting to my apartment in the snow.


	24. The Last Campout

"Okay, kids, this is the last 'Survival-of-the-Fittest' trip that you'll be going on!" Iruka-sensei announced from the front of the room. I couldn't believe how quickly our last year at the Academy had gone by. Next year was just a few months of basic recap training and then we took our graduation exam. My stomach flipped over just thinking about it, I was so nervous. What if I didn't pass?

"Come on, Halu, let's go get our stuff!" Kyoko cried, dragging me to the front of the room where everyone else was searching for their sleeping bags.

"This is gonna kick serious butt!" I said, snatching up my purple sleeping bag.

"True dat! Cuz _we're_ the top dogs now! No more mean pranks from the older kids like last year, and ya' know why?" Kyoko asked and I grinned.

"Cuz we _are_ the older kids!"

"Kickass!" she agreed and Iruka-sensei glared at her.

"Kyoko, watch your mouth!" She just rolled her eyes and shrugged him off.

"Jeez, we're gonna be twelve soon and outta here for good. When are they gonna get off our backs for stupid stuff like that?"

I shrugged. "How am I supposed to know?" We walked over to a bored-looking Shikamaru, an excited Choji, and a bummed-out Kiba.

"What's wrong, Kiba?" I asked, and Kyoko rolled her eyes in a 'Who-cares?' kind of way.

"Iruka-sensei's still mad at me about last year so he says Akamaru can't come this year," Kiba pouted. Last year, Akamaru had chowed through everyone's dinner and then kept everyone up all night with his whining because he had a stomachache. It was awful.

"Come on, it will still be fun," I reassured him but he just shrugged.

"You can tell Akamaru all about it when you get back and it will be like he was here," Choji suggested but Kiba didn't seem any happier.

"Shikamru! Kiba! Choji! Kyoko! Tsunami! Get a move on!" Iruka-sensei cried, beckoning us to follow the rest of the class outside to start the hike.

"Okay, this is where we're going to be camping. Set up your sleeping bags, everyone, and _then_ you can all swim in the lake!" Iruka-sensei instructed and Shikamaru, Kiba, Choji, Kyoko, Naruto (who I had met up with on the hike over) and I all threw our sleeping bags on the ground and sprinted down to the lake. We stripped off our clothes, where we had our bathing suits on underneath, and jumped in.

"Monkey in the middle, Naruto!" Kiba cried, throwing a sock to Shikamaru, who quickly caught it and threw it back to Kiba. Choji was grinning, goofily and Kyoko was cackling like a witch.

"You guys, quit it!" I moaned as Naruto jumped up, effortlessly to catch the sock and then I froze. "KIBA INUZUKA AND SHIKAMARU NARA! IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?" My voice had raised to a shriek as everyone except Naruto roared with laughter.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked, uneasily, praying that they weren't laughing at him.

"GIVE ME BACK MY UNDERWEAR!" I screamed, tackling Shikamaru in the water and snatching my pink panties away from him. "I oughta' beat the crap outta you!" I searched for Shikamaru in the water and saw him slowly coming up. _He's probably just afraid,_ I thought.

"Oh My God!" Choji wailed as Shikamaru came up on his back, not moving.

"Sh-Shikamaru?" I whispered, and suddenly everyone was silent.

"Call Iruka-sensei!" Kiba cried, in a panic and I gently poked Shikamaru's back.

"Shikamaru, are you okay?" I asked, tears sliding down my face and suddenly burst into a full-out sob as I flipped him over. "Shikamaru, I'm so sorry! Shikamaru, please wake up!"

Shikamaru opened his eyes and smirked up at me. "Oh, alright. But only because you asked nicely."

"SHIKAMARU!" I screamed, angrily, shoving him back underwater. He came up, sputtering and shook his hair like a wet dog.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"That was _not_ funny, Shikamaru Nara! Not funny at all!" I screamed, shoving him away and stomping to shore, squeezing my panties in my fist.

"Tsunami, come on! I was just joking!" Shikamaru called after me, but I just sniffled and rubbed my eyes and then ran back up to the campsite. I could hear Kiba saying,

"Not cool, dude."

I chucked my panties down by my sleeping bag and collapsed down on it, sobbing. What if Shikamaru had really been hurt? And it had been my fault?

"Tsunami, what's wrong?" Iruka-sensei asked, kneeling down next to me and I shook my head.

"N-nothing," I replied, wiping my eyes and Iruka-sensei rubbed my eyes.

"You can tell me, Tsunami."

"Shikamaru..." I started to tell him what happened, but didn't want Shikamaru to get in trouble. "he and Kiba stole my underwear and they wouldn't give it back."

"They _WHAT?_" Iruka-sensei yelled, angrily and I frowned. Maybe I should have told him of a different story if I didn't want him to get in trouble.

"But I got it back," I whimpered but Iruka-sensei stood up and shook his head.

"That behavior is unacceptable! I will have to talk to them right now!"

"But-" I started, but he ignored me and made his way down to the lake, where I soon heard him yelling. "Oh no."

It was later that night and I was by myself, staring into the campfire that I had made when Shikamaru sat down next to me.

"Look, Tsunami, I'm really sorry about what happened. I was just joking, ya know? I didn't think you would take it so seriously," he confessed and I sighed.

"I know you were just joking, but you're my best friend, Shikamaru. What would I ever do if anything happened to you? And because of *me*?"

"I'm fine, man. And I won't joke around like that anymore...cuz I know that death must not be funny to you after what happened to your father." I nodded. "Man, it's such a drag comforting girls." I rolled my eyes and frogged him on the arm.

"Shut up and just hug me already."


	25. The Letter

"Tsunami, can you go and get some boxes from my room? I have some pictures in there that I want to show Naomi," my mom called from the kitchen and I rolled my eyes.

"What use would that do? She's three," I argued, getting comfortable on the couch.

"Just do it!" she snapped and I groaned and got up. I opened the door to her room and searched for any boxes, but couldn't find any. "Mom, I don't see any boxes!"

"They're under my bed!" she called and I rolled my eyes and got on my knees to dig out boxes from under her bed. I yanked one out and then glanced back to make sure my mother wasn't coming before sifting through it. There was nothing but stupid scrapbooks and pictures of me and Rayne from before Father had died. I shook my head and was about to close the box when something caught my eye. It was envelope with TSUNAMI written on the front in my father's handwriting.

I picked up the envelope and opened it, and then read the letter:

_Dear Tsunami,_

_I don't want this to be one of those 'If you're reading this, then I'm dead' kind of things, but I suppose in a way it is. I gave your mother this letter to give to you if anything bad ever happened to me. And by that I mean, if Remi Kashuni killed me in an effort to try to steal your powers. There is so much that I wanted to tell you, but I have a limited amount of paper._

_First off, if anyone ever tries to bind your powers, that seal will quickly be broken on your 12th birthday, once you become a ninja. Or on any life-threatening instances before then. It is very important that you ask your sensei, whoever he or she may be, to help you control these powers, because you need to know how to use them well for the sake of your village._

_Secondly, many people have probably told you that you were born onto this earth in order to protect the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but this is not true. They have not lied to you, because that is what they believe, but Kushina Uzumaki came to me asking you to protect her son, Naruto. I don't need to ask if you have, because angels have a way of fulfilling their duty, even if they don't know what that duty is._

_Last but not least, try not to hate Honako Kashuni because of what her father did to me, to you, to our family. I know that this is hard for you to read, but I really don't want you to hate her. She is really a nice girl._

_That's all I wanted to tell you, and I must go now but please, take all that I have told you to heart._

_Love, Daddy_

I crumpled the letter in my fist and stomped up to my mother, throwing the crinkled piece of paper on the table, where she was feeding Naomi.

"What is this?" I snarled, angrily and she glanced up at me and then stared down at the letter.

"Where did you find this?" my mom asked, calmly and I curled my hands into fists.

"That's not what I asked! Why did you keep that from me? Do you know how much that would have meant to me if you had given that to me after Dad died?" I yelled, but she just glared up at me.

"I didn't want you to know all that crap that he told you about being an angel-"

"It's not crap!" I cried. "Everything _you_ told me about being an angel was crap! That's why you tried to bind my powers, isn't it? And why you hate Naruto so much? It all makes sense now!"

"Well good for you," she replied, smirking. I reached to grab the letter, but she snatched it up. "I'll take that. I wouldn't want you to go showing it to Naruto or the Hokage or anybody."

"I'll just tell them what it said!"

"And where's your proof?" my mother asked, smoldering the letter to ashes in her palm.

"No!" I cried, reaching for it, but then pulled back after she dumped the ashes onto the floor.

"There."


	26. Meeting Link

**You've already met Tsunami and Honako and Kyoko, and you even saw Asuka-sensei in one of the first chapters, so now it's time for me to introduce my **_**last**_** OC character: Link! God, I love him(: Haha, and I hope you will, too.**

**Rachel**

"Tsunami! Tsunami, guess what?" Naruto cried, excitedly, running up to me after I walked out of the Academy.

"What?" I asked and he hopped from one foot to the other, happily.

"My class is starting to prepare for the graduation exam! I'm gonna be a freakin' _ninja!_" he cried and I giggled.

"Alright! When do you take the exam?" I asked.

"Next week! Oh man, I only have a week to train!" He suddenly looked bummed. "There's _no way_ I'm gonna pass this exam!"

"Sure you will, chief! And if you pass, I'll buy you a big bowl of ramen at Ichiraku's ramen shop!"

"REALLY? YOU WILL?"

"Yeah! But only one bowl...I'm not rich, you know!"

"Aw man!" He moaned as we started home. "I can't eat just _one_ bowl!"

"Well, you'd better or you'll be paying for the rest," I replied and then asked, "Hey, why is your class taking the graduation exams before anyone else?"

"Iruka-sensei said it was my class, then a different one, and then yours! Maybe our class is the advanced class!" He grinned. "And if I'm in the advanced class, then you're in the dummy class! Sorry, Tsunami!"

I rolled my eyes, but I secretly knew why Naruto took the exams first. Kyoko's older brother had told her that they always have the class with the weakest students, with the worst grades, go first so that if they fail out, they can join a different class and try again.

_But there's no way that Naruto can flunk! He trains so hard...he deserves this,_ I thought, but deep down, I knew it wasn't about who deserved it, it was about who earns it.

"Sorry, Tsunami, I can't hang out today! I have to go train!" Naruto cried and sped away, leaving me in the dust.

"Umm...okay," I said, frowning and thought, _Who am I supposed to hang out with now?_ I just shrugged and made my way to my favorite diner. Naruto's favorite place might be the ramen shop, but mine was the diner, where they serve foods of all varietes.

I looked over at my favorite booth (which I had moved because my old favorite booth had been Honako's favorite as well) and saw a blonde boy sitting there, reading a magazine. He was about my age, and he looked familiar. I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at me and quickly folded his magazine shut, which I recognized as a Playboy. Suddenly I knew who he was.

"HEY, I KNOW YOU!" I yelled, grinning and pointing at him. "You're Link Champlou! You're in my class at the Academy!" I knew I had seen him from somewhere, I just couldn't put my finger on it until I saw the Playboy, because in class was always hidden by a girly magazine or a cigarette.

"Hey, beautiful. And you are...?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Tsunami Halu. Can I sit down?" I asked and he grinned.

"Please do." I sat down across from him and he shoved the Playboy in his back pocket.

"Did you order yet?" I asked and he nodded.

"A cheeseburger and fries. Do you want the same thing?"

"Sure," I replied and he called the waitress over.

"The pretty lady would like the same thing, if you don't mind." The waitress nodded and ran up to the corner and Link turned back to look at me with a pervy smirk. "So what brings you here?"

"This is my favorite diner, if you must know," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Really? Mine too. What a coincidence, huh?" Link asked and flashed me a smile, but I just rolled my eyes. _Is he trying to flirt with me?_

"I guess so-"

"Here you go," the waitress said to Link, setting a plate with a cheeseburger and fries in front of him. She turned to me. "Yours will be done in a few minutes." I smiled and nodded at her.

"Thanks, sweetheart," Link said and winked at her, but she just rolled her eyes and walked to a different table.

"Ooh, and he strikes out," I mocked and he flipped me off.

"Yeah, whatever. At least I didn't strike out with you," Link pointed out, taking a bite of his cheeseburger.

"Link, you struck out with me as soon as I saw that Playboy, you sick pervert," I said, smirking but he just shrugged.

"There's plenty of fish in the sea. And fish with bigger boobs than you," he said, eyeing my chest and I angrily kicked his shin under the table. "Aaahh!" He reached down to rub his swollen shin.

"So, ninjawise, what's your specialty?" I asked, but he just shrugged.

"Speed, mostly. I don't do very well with regular jutsus, but I'm great at hand-to-hand combat."

"Hmm," I said, pondering this. I had never heard of anyone who didn't have a special trait passed down from their family (like me) or who didn't use jutsus. It would hard to even be able to call him a ninja...

"I know what you're thinking. What kind of ninja can barely use jutsus? But don't count me out just yet-I'm a lot stronger than you think," Link interrupted my thoughts and I blushed at getting caught.

"Yeah well, we'll just have to wait and see," I said as the waitress gave me my food. By that time, Link was nearly finished with his cheeseburger (he was a fast eater, I guess) and he sighed and stretched in impatience.

"Well, I should get going," he admitted and got up with his plate. "I'll see you around, hun."

"So what? You're just leaving?" I asked, angrily and he turned back.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Link dug in his pocket and dropped enough money to pay for both our lunches on the table and started to walk away.

"That was _so_ not what I meant!" I called, but he only raised his hand to wave and then left. "What a tool." But he _was_ kind of cool. Is it creepy that I think he's cool?


	27. The First Failure

"Where are we going?" I asked as Naruto clamped his hand over my eyes in the pouring rain. The rain drops were freezing on my skin and I shivered as he dragged me across town, his clammy palm still covering my eyes.

"Wait and see! Hold on!" he answered and broke into a run, forcing me to follow.

"Naruto, it's _cold_ out here! Can't you-" I started, but he cut me off.

"We're here." He removed his hand from my eyes and I saw that we were standing in front of the Ninja Academy, but more importantly, Naruto was beaming at me with a ninja headband on his forehead instead of those goofy goggles.

"Oh My God! Naruto, you passed!" I cried, grinning and tackled him to the ground, where we landed in a muddy puddle and our bodies made a 'squish' noise as we hit the ground.

"You bet I did!" Naruto cried, gleefully and grinned up at me.

"I am _so_ proud of you! I knew you could do it!" I said and his smile softened.

"I know. You always believed in me when no one else did, and you always stood by my side when everyone else deserted me." My bangs were stuck to my forehead, and getting in my eyes, and Naruto reached up and gently moved them away. His voice lowered to a whisper. "Everyone else hates me and they all told you to hate me, too, but you saw I wasn't who they all thought I was. Sakura will never mean as much to me as you do." Naruto leaned up and pressed his lips against mine, in the most perfect kiss.

I opened my eyes with a sigh and sat up, rubbing my eyes. _It was only a dream,_ I thought, and reality came crashing down, leaving me ready to burst into tears. _No, Tsunami, you're almost twelve years old. No more crying over Naruto,_ I convinced myself but I knew there was plenty more crying over Naruto left to come.

I dragged myself out of bed and glanced at my calendar. _Hey! Today is the day that Naruto takes his graduation exam! I hope he does okay..._ Naruto had been in a funk all week because he couldn't seem to master the clone jutsu, no matter how many times he tried or how long he practiced.

_Are you sure you'll be able to get your act together in time, Naruto? I mean, the graduation exam is _tomorrow!_" I had said as I sat in his apartment, watching him train._

_"Sure I will!" he replied, confidently. "I mean, I might not be able to master the clone jutsu _now_ but once I'm on the spot tomorrow, I'll nail it! Being a ninja is all about having to wing it in desperate situations, right?"_

_"Uhh...right," I said._

_"Right! I'm gonna do fine!_

I quickly got dressed and ran out the door without having any breakfast, Naruto on my mind the entire time. _What if he doesn't pass? If Naruto fails this exam, it will kill him!_

I waited for Naruto outside of the Academy, but he never showed. I ended up being the last person there and had to walk home by myself, looking like a loner. _I hope he's okay. Where could he have gone?_ I turned around and started to run towards Ichiraku's ramen shop. _I should have known!_

Sure enough, I saw him slumped over at the counter, with a full bowl of ramen sitting in front of him, untouched. Cautiously, I took a seat next to him. "What's wrong, kid?"

"I didn't pass," Naruto sobbed, tears streaming down his face in a rainstorm. "I'm such a failure. I didn't pass. It was that stupid clone jutsu again!" He buried his face in his elbow and cried even harder, his entire body shaking with sobs.

"Naruto, you're not a failure," I whispered, rubbing his back.

"Yes I am!" he cried, but I just shook my head, even though he couldn't see me.

"You'll have plenty of other chances! You and me, we'll work on the clone jutsu until you get it right. Then they _can't_ fail you!" I said and he looked up at me, tears still swimming in his eyes.

"Really? You think I can do it?" he whispered and I smiled and nodded.

"Of _course!_" I pushed the bowl of ramen towards him. "Now dig in. It's on me."


	28. Angel Powers

It was my 12th birthday. I stared at myself in the mirror, trying to detect a change but couldn't find one. I looked exactly the same as I did yesterday and the day before that. This was the year that I became a ninja, what I had trained and waited for my entire life. But more importantly, I got my angel powers back today, according to my father's letter.

But I really didn't feel all that different on the inside, either. Besides that I couldn't feel the restraint on my full powers, there was nothing. I tried summoning up a force field or whatever Iruka-sensei said but I couldn't. I should have been able to, but I couldn't.

_Maybe I should ask Naruto about it. He could help me train!_ I thought, but shook the thought away. I didn't want to bug him, he was training for his 2nd shot at the graduation exam, which was coming up soon. _Oh, I know, I'll ask Shikamaru. He'll know what to do!_


	29. Spying

***Third Person: The 3rd Hokage's POV***

The 3rd Hokage was sitting in his usual chair in the room where people came to meet with him, and he was deep in thought. It had been Tsunami Halu's 12th birthday not too long ago, which meant that the binding he had put on her angel powers had come undone. Yes, he knew all about the things that Hazuki Halu had put in the letter to Tsunami, because Hazuki had written him a letter as well, with all of the same information and more.

It was Tsunami's duty to protect Naruto, yes, but she was also required to help her fellow teammates and friends if they required it, as well as protect the village. _Here's an interesting thought,_ the 3rd Hokage wondered, tapping his fingers on the armrest. _What happens to Tsunami if Naruto dies? After all, it is her main and possibly only reason that she was put on Earth, to protect him. If that purpose is no more, what will happen to her? Will Tsunami die, too? If she does, will she go out the same way that Naruto does, like mimicry? Or wilt away like a flower until there is nothing left of her?_

"I'm going for a walk," he announced to his guards, standing up and they turned to look at him.

"Yes, Lord Hokage," they said as he walked out of the building. He breathed in the fresh air as he walked along the streets, fellow villagers gasping and acknowledging his presence as they saw him. He offered the occasional wave or smile or "Hello" but mostly he focused on getting to his destination.

The Hokage finally stopped in front of the apartment building that both Naruto _and_ Tsunami lived in. There was a reason he had chosen this place for the Halu family to live after Tsunami had burned their old house down-_After their old house down mysteriously burned down, _he corrected himself, stubbornly. *There was no proof that Tsunami was responsible for the fire.* But he had his suspicions. Just like he had his suspicions about who tried to burn the Academy down.

The Hokage shook his head with a small smile. _I swear, that girl is nothing but trouble._ He stared up at the building, wondering what the two children were doing at this very moment. _She's a lot like Naruto_. He walked inside the apartment building, getting greeted warmly by the receptionist as he gazed at the small lobby.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Lord Hokage?" the reception asked, smiling at him. She was a sweet girl.

"Yes," he replied. "Do you have any idea where Naruto Uzumaki and Tsunami Halu are right now? Did you see them leave or anything?"

"Why yes, actually, I did. They left not too long ago," she answered and he asked,

"Do you have any idea where they went?"

"Umm..." she thought about this. "as a matter of fact, they _did_ say something about going into the forest to train. But Lord Hokage, I'm sure they're alright."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure. Thank you," the Hokage agreed and quickly left in search of the blonde boy and aqua-haired girl. He wasn't worried about their well-being, he was sure they were just fine, but more about keeping track of their progress, overlooking how far they had come. He slowly made his way to the forest, knowing that they could be _anywhere_ in the wooden wasteland.

_I have all day,_ he thought, lazily. _And I can always check up on them some other day. Mostly, I just wanted some fresh air._

"CRAP! I CAN'T DO _ANYTHING_ RIGHT!" The 3rd Hokage's head snapped up at Naruto's voice and quickened his pace.

"Naruto, it's not a big deal, just try again," Tsunami soothed. "Here, wanna watch me try again?" There was a POOF! and then Tsunami's voice again: "See? One clone. It's easy! Try it again!"

The Hokage deepened his descent into the forest and saw the two best friends in a clearing not far ahead where there were two Tsunami's watching intently as Naruto tried the clone jutsu again. There was another POOF! and Naruto ended up with a very dead clone of himself.

"SEE? I DID THE SAME THING _AGAIN!_ I'M _NEVER_ GONNA GET THIS RIGHT!" the blonde moaned, angrily, on the verge of a temper tantrum. Both Naruto and Tsunami's clones disapeared with another POOF! and Tsunami walked towards Naruto, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"You just need more practice, that's all. It took _me_ a while to get it right, too."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto muttered and then tried again: "Clone jutsu!" He got the same dead-looking Naruto, except this one twitched.

"You got a little better," Tsunami said, hopefully but he just grumbled and plopped on his butt in frustration.

"This sucks."

The 3rd Hokage let out a chuckle before heading back. He wasn't sure if Naruto would _ever_ learn that clone jutsu or if Tsunami would ever master her new powers. There were so many questions involving those two that only time would answer.


	30. The Second Failure

***Tsunami's POV***

Naruto and I walked home from the Academy in silence. He had his head hung low and his hands shoved in his pockets. I didn't dare say a word about his second graduation exam, which had been today. I didn't have high hopes for his scores, as much as I hated to say it. We had been training, day in and day out, _both of us._ My own exam was coming up, too, you know.

"It was that stupid clone jutsu again," Naruto grumbled. "It trips me up every time."

"Well, hey, you know how when you failed the first time, you got moved to a different class? Well this time, you'll get moved into _my_ class! That'll be fun, won't it?" I asked and Naruto gave me a small smile.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"And third time's the charm, right, Naruto?" I encouraged, frogging him on the arm and his grin grew wider.

"YEAH! And if I pass this time, you and me could even be on the same _team!_ Oh man, that would be great!" he yelled and I nodded.

"That's the spirit!"

"I'm gonna pass this time! Believe it!"

Naruto showed up the next day in a bright, orange jumpsuit.

"Whoaa, slick. What's up with the new clothes?" I asked, approaching him in the classroom but he just grinned at me.

"Do you like it?"

"Uhh...sure. You excited?"

"HELL YEAH!" he yelled, pumping his fist in the air and everyone turned to stare. "This is gonna be so awesome, believe it!"

_Believe it...he's been saying that a lot lately. What is that, his new catchphrase?_ I thought as Iruka-sensei approached the front of the room.

"Alright, everyone, as you know, your graduation exam will be in two weeks. You have all been training very hard for this, but don't stop now! All of the extra training will do you good!" he announced and everyone nodded.


	31. Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!

_**Enter: Naruto Uzumaki!**_

I was sitting in class next to Shikamaru, waiting for Iruka-sensei to come back.

"This is such a drag. Why did Iruka even leave in the first place?" my lazy best friend moaned, yawning and I grinned and shrugged.

"I don't know. Who pays any attention to what he says?" I grinned and Shikamaru smirked back. I looked around. "Hey, where's Naruto?"

"Probably ditched again," Shikamaru replied and I sighed.

"He'd better be training then. Because with the graduation exam coming up, he doesn't have _time_ to goof off!"

"Speaking of the graduation exam, are ya' nervous?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, a little. It would be such a drag if I flunked," I said with a wink.

He rolled his eyes. "Copycat."

Iruka-sensei came barging in, dragging a tied-up Naruto behind him. "I'm at the end of my rope, Naruto! You failed the graduation test last time _and_ the time before that! Tomorrow you've got another chance _and you're messing up again!_"

"Hmmph!" Naruto murmured, looking away.

"FINE!" Iruka-sensei yelled, pointing at a spot at the front. "Because you missed it, Naruto, everyone will review the transformation jutsu!" Shikamaru and I groaned along with everyone else.

I got into line after Naruto and before Shikamaru. "Hey, good luck, chief. Don't embarrass yourself," I whispered in Naruto's ear and he shot me a thumb's up.

"Don't worry, I won't!" he whispered back.

Sakura stepped forward. "Alright, Sakura here, let's do it! Transform!" she cried, and transformed into an exact replica of Iruka-sensei.

"Transformed into me. Good," Iruka-sensei said, checking something off on his clipboard and Sakura turned back into herself.

"Yay! I did it! Sasuke, did you see that?" Sakura asked and I rolled my eyes. _Must she always have her precious Sasuke's approval?_

"Next: Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka-sensei announced and Sasuke stepped forward while Sakura sulked off. Sasuke did a quick transformation of Iruka and back.

"Uhh...good," Iruka said, checking another thing off on his clipboard and then announcing, "Next: Naruto Uzumaki."

"This is a total waste of time, Naruto," Shikamaru complained.

"We always pay for your screw-ups!" Ino agreed.

"Like I care," Naruto grumbled and stepped forward. "Transform!" There was a puff of smoke and instead of seeing a copy of Iruka-sensei, there was a beautiful blonde lady. I stifled a giggle at Iruka-sensei's reaction to Naruto's Sexy Jutsu. Naruto turned back and had a laughing fit.

"Haha! Gotcha! That's my Sexy Jutsu!"

"ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID TRICKS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!" Iruka screamed, angrily.

Class was over and I tapped Naruto on the shoulder. "You wanna hang out today?" I asked and he opened his mouth to reply, but Iruka interrupted.

"I'm afraid he can't, Tsunami. He has to clean up the vandalism he did to the Hokage faces."

"You vandalized the Hokage faces?" I asked and Naruto nodded. "That's horrible!" I acted all disgusted, but underneath the table I was giving Naruto a fist pump. I shrugged and got up. "Oh well. I'll just go find Kyoko or Shikamaru or somebody." I left the Academy and looked around to see if any of my friends were left waiting around, but there were none. I shrugged and sighed and started my way home.

"Hey, sweetheart! Over here!" someone called and I looked over to see Link waving me over to him. He was leaning up against the side of the Academy, with a Playboy in hand and an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I rolled my eyes and walked over to him.

"Smoking damages your lungs, you know," I pointed out but he just shrugged.

"Yeah, but it makes me look cool, so so what?" Link asked.

"No, it doesn't!" I argued. "You're only 12 so it makes you look like an _idiot!_ Do they even sell cigarettes to kids at our age?"

"Not if I say I'm buying them for my dad," he said, pulling out a lighter to light the cancer stick. "and besides, if it's the grumpy old guy's shift the day I wanna buy some, then I just swipe them from Asuma."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and narrowed my eyes. "So you're a perv, an idiot, _and_ a thief? Great. Just great." Link just shrugged.

"You nervous about the graduation exams?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Do I seem like the type to get nervous?" I cried, confidently but he just smirked at me.

"Naw. But the most confident ones are usually the ones freaking out, for some reason."

"That's stupid, it doesn't make any sense. If I'm confident, why would I be freaking out? You're freaking retarded, that's what you are!" I cried and grabbed one of his cigarettes and chucking it. "I can't believe I used to think you were cool!" I turned to walk away but Link grabbed my arm.

"You used to think I was cool?" he asked and I turned around.

"Yeah...used to!"

"Aww, come on. Let me buy you lunch."

"No!"

"It's free food. How can you say no to that?" Link asked.

_I _am_ pretty hungry...and I'll have no one else to hang out with until Naruto comes back. Ah, what the hell?_ "Okay, fine. But it's not a date or anything!"

"I never said it was," Link said, defensively and I frowned before following him to my favorite diner.

It was the next day and Iruka-sensei was standing at the front of the classroom. "We will now start the final exam. When your name is called, proceed to the test. The final test will be on...the clone jutsu!" I looked, worriedly over at Naruto, who was openly freaking out. And sitting next to him was a confident-looking Link, who winked at me. Yesterday, at the diner he had told me all about how the clone jutsu was his best jutsu. He told me a lot of stuff and I told _him_ a lot of stuff. Link wasn't such a bad guy after all.

When it was my turn, I walked into a room with Iruka-sensei and a guy named Mizuki behind a table with dozens of ninja headbands on it. Just looking at those headbands made my stomach flip over. _This is what I've been waiting for my entire life...all of my training pays off now! Don't screw this up, Tsunami!_ I formed my handsign and yelled, "Tranform!" After the puff of smoke had disappeared, I saw three copies of myself looking proudly at the two men.

"Great job, Tsunami. You pass! Come get your headband," Iruka said, holding a headband out to me.

"I passed? Alright!" I yelled, happily and my clones disappeared as I bounced up to get my headband from him and then ran out the door, waving it around. "SHIKAMARU! NARUTO! I PASSED! I PASSED!"

I was standing outside with the rest of my classmates, showing off our headbands and gushing about how exciting this was. I tied my headband firmly around my left wrist, like a bracelet.

"Congrats on passing, Tsunami," Shikamaru said, walking up to me. His headband was tied around his arm.

"Yeah, you too!" I replied.

"I'm just glad I'm done with this stupid Academy. The whole thing has been such a pain! I just want to be a ninja so I can do whatever the hell I want," Shikamaru moaned, but I wasn't paying attention to him. I was too busy staring at Naruto, who was sitting on a swing attached to a tree a few yards away, all by himself.

"Naruto...he left right after the exam. Did he pass or what?" I asked and Shikamaru turned to look at the depressed blonde.

"Sorry, Tsunami. I heard he was the only one that failed," Shikamaru replied.

"There. Do you see him?" I turned my attention to two girls who were also staring at Naruto.

"It's that boy! I heard he was the only one who failed."

"Hmmph! Well, it serves him right."

"Just imagine what would happen if _he_ became a ninja! I mean, he's the boy who-"

"Shh! We're not allowed to talk about that!"

"SHUT UP!" I snapped.

"Huh?" they asked, turning to stare at me.

"You don't even _know_ him, so you have _no right_...no right at all to say he doesn't deserve to be a ninja!" I reached out my hand to point a menacing finger at them. "So you'd better shut up before I shut you up!"

"Jeez, sorry," the first one muttered and they turned away from me.

"Damn, Tsunami. What was that all about?" Shikamaru asked as I lowered my hand.

"Nothing. I just don't like it when people run their mouths off about things they know nothing about," I snapped and looked back over by the swing, but Naruto was gone. "Hey, where'd he go?"

"Don't ask me!" Shikamaru said and then sighed. "Hey, I know this is gonna sound kinda mean, but we shouldn't spend the whole day worrying about Naruto."

I turned to stare at him. "Huh?"

"I mean, we graduated the Academy! I know you're worried about Naruto and all, but this is your day! Don't you think you should celebrate at least a little?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. Let's go get something to eat," I said as we walked away from the crowd that was starting to disperse.

"I wish I was a cloud, so the wind could just carry me wherever it needed to go. Just go with the flow, no effort or drama involved," Shikamaru grumbled. I rolled my eyes.

"I've never heard that speech before," I said, sarcastically but then elbowed him playfully in the ribs. "But like you said, this is _your_ day, too! Why are you so grumpy?"

"I dunno...I just have a feeling that this whole thing is gonna be a drag."

"Psst! Tsunami, you awake?" I moaned and rolled over, and then rubbed my eyes. I saw Naruto crouching down on my windowsill wearing his trademark goofy grin.

"Naruto?" I murmured and sat up. "What time is it?"

"I dunno like, 6:30? Come on, get up, I have _so_ much to tell you!" he cried, reaching his hand out. I got out of bed and took it, and then we both jumped to the ground.

"...and then Iruka-sensei passed me! And he gave me my ninja headband!" Naruto boasted, adjusting the goggles on his forehad. "I'm not wearing it right now because I don't wanna mess them up."

"Wow," I said. We had been walking all around the village while he told me the story and it must have taken a half an hour or so and people were just starting to wake up.

"Hey, Tsunami. Can I ask you something?" Naruto asked.

"Sure," I replied. "Anything."

"Did you know?"

"Did I know what?"

"Did you know I had the Nine-Tailed Fox inside of me?" The question hung over me like a dark cloud and I hung my head. If Naruto found out that I knew all along and didn't say a word, he would be _so_ mad at me.

"Yeah."

"Really?" Naruto seemed to be breathless.

"What? You're not mad?" I asked in shock and he shook his head.

"No way! I mean, you _knew_ that I had this beast inside of me and you didn't resent me like everyone else! You're the greatest best friend _ever!_" he shouted and I giggled.

"Well, it was easy. Sure, the beast was _inside_ you but that wasn't who you were. The beast wasn't inside your heart," I said. Naruto stared at me and smiled and then cracked up.

"Man, Tsunami, that was so cheesy!"

I frogged him on the arm. "Shut up, Nine-Tails!"


	32. Sasuke and Sakura: Friends or Foes?

_**Sasuke and Sakura: Friends or Foes?**_

"Tsunami, are you really a ninja now?" Rayne asked me over breakfast that morning. At this time, he was seven and while this was orientation day for me, this was his first day of the Academy.

I pointed to the ninja headband tied to my left wrist. "Well if I'm not, what do you call this then?"

"Man, that's _so_ cool! I can't wait until I'm a ninja!" Rayne boasted while four-year-old Naomi stared, goofily up at us.

"Is Tsunami going away forever?" she asked and I shook my head and ruffled her turquiose-colored hair.

"No, I'll come back most nights. But I'll be away on missions so you won't see me that much anymore." I glanced at the clocks. "Oops! Gotta get going! See you later, kiddos."

"BYE, TSUNAMI!" they called after me as I waltzed out the door. _This is it, today is orientation day. Today is the *day*!_ I saw the Academy looming into view and I started sprinting towards it. What could I say? I was excited. I ran to the assigned classroom and saw that people had shown up already. I noticed a bright, orange jumpsuit and ran towards it.

"Hey, Naruto!" I cried, clapping him on the back and then jumping up to sit on the desk. He was sitting next to Sasuke.

"Hiya, Tsunami," he replied. Naruto had his head resting on his arms and he was wearing his ninja headband on his forehead.

"Daaaamn, Naruto, you're looking fine in that headband!" I cried, gesturing to it. He would get mad if I flicked it or even touched it.

"I know, thanks for noticing." At that moment, Shikamaru walked up.

"What are you doing here, Naruto? This isn't for dropouts. You can't be here unless you graduated."

Naruto pointed to his headband. "Oh yeah? Do you see this? Do you see this? Open your eyes, Shikamaru, this is a regulation headband. We're gonna be training _together._ How do you like that?"

"Huh," Shikamaru muttered.

"Let me put it to you this way: I look great in this headband! Like it was made for me! Believe it! Heh heh heh!" Naruto cried, proudly and I giggled at the two of them arguing. I heard a commotion behind me as Shikamaru walked away and I saw Sakura and Ino fighting to get in the door. They both burst in, panting and yelled,

"I'M FIRST!"

"I win again, Sakura!" Ino boasted.

"Give it up! I had to look _back_ to see you, my toe was at least a tenth of an inch ahead!" Sakura argued.

"Have you _always_ been this dillusional?" Naruto looked back at them, too, and he blushed at the sight of Sakura.

"Whatever," I grumbled, trying to convince myself that I didn't care as Sakura ran up to Naruto.

"Hi, Sakura! What's up?" Naruto asked, getting up and waving at her, but Sakura shoved him out of his seat and onto the floor.

"Move it!" _Poor Naruto,_ I thought, hopping off the table to go help up my blonde friend. _She'll never love you like I do._ "Uhh...good morning, Sasuke. Mind if I sit next to you?"

Ino rushed up to her. "Back off, Forehead! *I'm* sitting next to Sasuke!"

"I was here first!" Sakura grumbled.

"I walked into the classroom before you did!" Ino argued. "Everybody saw it!"

"Dream on!"

"Actually, _I_ got here before either of you!" a random girl said as a crowd started to form.

"So did I! _I'm_ sitting next to Sasuke!" another cried.

"No, I am!"

I walked over to Naruto and extended my hand. "Need a hand, slick?" He took it and jumped to his feet.

"Thanks," he grumbled before glaring at Sasuke and then jumping on the desk, his face inches from Sasuke's.

"NARUTO!" Sakura cried. "Hey, stop _glaring_ at Sasuke!" He looked over at the crowd of girls and then went back to glaring at Sasuke. The crowd of girls screamed at Naruto, angrily. I rolled my eyes. _Don't they have anything better to do than obsess over Sasuke?_

There was a hush among the girls and I heard some kid say, "Sorry. Did I bump you?" and Naruto and Sasuke were...kissing?

"WHAT THE HELL?" I yelled, loudly and Naruto and Sasuke broke apart, spitting and gagging.

"Naruto...you are so dead," Sakura growled.

"Whoa, wait! It was an accident!" Naruto cried, helplessly but they all beat him to a bloody pulp anyway. I offered to help him up again and then everyone took their seats as Iruka-sensei entered the classroom. Sakura had taken her seat next to Sasuke and Kyoko was waving me next to her while Naruto was left without anywhere to sit.

"Hey, umm...Sakura? Can I sit there?" Naruto asked and she glared at him.

"No way, Naruto! Go find somewhere else to sit!"

"Whoa, whoa, Forehead, calm down. He _was_ there first," I pointed out and she grumbled and scooted over. Naruto shot me a thankful grin as I went to sit down in between Kiba and Kyoko. I had to seperate those two.

Iruka started to speak: "As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you have faced difficult trials and hardships, but that's nothing. What's coming will be much more difficult. As of now, you are all genin, that's first-level ninjas. All of the genin will be grouped into three-man squads. Each squad will be led by a jonin, an elite ninja."

"Squads?" I murmured. I hadn't seen that coming. _If there's three people in each squad, then I want Shikamaru and Naruto!_

"We want each squad to have a balance of sense and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads." I spaced out for a while, not caring about squads 1-6 until I heard Iruka-sensei say:

"Squad 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha." _Of course he has to be with Sakura,_ I thought, sadly. "Next, Squad 8: Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburamin. Now here's a funny thing. There were an odd number of students this year so there will be one squad of four. Squad 9: Tsunami Halu." I looked up, curiously. "Kyoko Jalika."

"ALRGIGHT, HALU!" Kyoko cried, clapping me on the back with a grin. "I guess I'm on your squad! Kickass!"

"Honako Kashuni." _Honako's on my squad?_ I thought, looking over at her smirking at me from across the room. _Fuck me._ "and Link Champlou."

"Would you listen to that? Looks like I'm on your team, dollface," Link said from behind me and I glanced back at him.

"Now Squad 10: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi." I grinned and stuck my tongue out at Shikamaru from across the room who just smirked and pointed at Honako. "Those are all the squads."

"Iruka-sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?" Naruto protested, standing up.

"Hmm. Sasuke had the best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores. To create a balanced group, we put the best student with the worst student." There were snickers and then Naruto yelled at Sasuke,

"HEY, WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke asked, smirking.

"Naruto! Knock it off! Sit down!" Sakura cried.

"After lunch, you will meet your new jonin teachers. Until then, class dismissed," Iruka-sensei said.

"Hey, Halu, wanna have lunch with me? We could even invite Merv the Perv over here, since we're on the same team," Kyoko said, jabbing a thumb at Link, behind us.

"Yeah, okay. As long as Honako isn't there!" I cried.

"Well, that's too bad, cuz all of the teams are meeting up to have lunch together," Honako said, waltzing up to us as all of the other students were starting to leave to go outside. "Come on, losers, let's go." Kyoko and I exchanged annoyed glances before the three of us followed Honako outside.

We leaned up against the side of the building and I noticed Naruto following Sakura and my face fell. Link noticed my crestfallen expression.

"What's wrong, doll? Do you like him or something?" he murmured so that Kyoko and Honako-especially Honako-wouldn't hear.

"No," I lied and pulled an apple out of my lunch bag.

"You're lying. I can always tell when people lie."

"You're so full of shit, Link."

"Hey! Secrets, secrets are no fun unless you tell _everyone!_" Kyoko cried, repeating the old rhyme she used to say as a kid.

"Well, if I tell everyone, then it won't be a secret anymore, will it?" I asked and she glowered at me.

"Come on, Tsunami. Tell us your secret," Honako encouraged with a manipulative smirk. "We all wanna know."

"I don't have a secret," I lied, quickly and Kyoko butted in.

"So who do you guys think our new sensei is gonna be?"

"Someone cool, I hope," I stated.

"Someone hot," Link said, and Kyoko and I rolled our eyes.

"What if it's a guy?" Kyoko asked.

"Well then it doesn't matter either way to me," Link replied. Link and Kyoko carried out in another random conversation while Honako stared, menacingly at me but I ignored them all. I was too busy staring at Naruto, who was sitting on top of the water tower, his shoulders slumped. He noticed me looking at me and he offered a sad wave, which I returned. _I can't believe he's in the same group as Sakura..._ I thought, sadly a sharp pang on my heart.

I noticed Honako looking at Naruto and then at me, and then she mouthed, "He'll never love you." _Tell me something I don't know,_ I thought but it hurt to hear her say it. To hear _anybody_ say it. I stared down at my uneaten lunch.

"I'm going for a walk," I said, getting up and throwing away my lunch.

"Uhh...okay, Halu. But we have to meet our new sensei after lunch. Don't be late," Kyoko called after me and I nodded back at her before continuing to walk. _I hate that he likes Sakura. If I even hear him say her name again, I'm gonna die. I think about him all the time...I-love him._


	33. Pass or Fail: Survival Test

_**Pass or Fail: Survival Test**_

"Okay," Asuka-sensei said, impatiently. "I'm supposed to ask you to tell me about yourself. What your name is, what you like and dislike, your dreams for the future, hobbies et cetera, et cetera. Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

Asuka-sensei was our sensei. She had long, purple hair and smokey gray eyes. Scoffing and eye rolling came naturally to her, as did calling the four of us morons every eight seconds. And we had only known her for about five minutes.

She gestured towards me. "You. Waterfall. Go first."

"Umm...okay. My name is Tsunami Halu. I like...hanging out with my friends. Well, mostly Naruto and Shikamaru. I dislike clowns and Honako." I glared at her, but she just rolled her eyes. "My dream for the future is to become an extremely powerful ninja so I can take down the Kashuni family to avenge my father." Honako scoffed next to me. "My hobbies are...well, I dunno. Training, I guess."

"Alright," Asuka said with an 'I-Don't-Want-To-Be-Here' sigh. "Redhead. Next."

"My name is Honako Kashuni, and I like training and reading while I dislike...a lot of things. People, in general. Especially Tsunami." It was my turn to roll my eyes. "My dream for the future is to climb all the way to the superior role in the Kashuni clan to make my father proud. I don't have any hobbies, besides training." Honako stared straight ahead, at Asuka-sensei, not even acknowledging that I was sitting there. She had her head up high and she looked _confident._

"Uhh, right. Playboy. Next." She gestured to Link, who sighed and put down the Playboy that he was hiding his face behind, and put out his cigarette.

"Link Champlou. I like smoking, my Playboys, girls, videogames, and porn." What a surprise. "I dislike bossy people. Especially chicks. My dream for the future is to not completely fail as a ninja, and my hobbies are smoking and looking at Playboys and mast-"

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Asuka cried, putting her hand up, looking slightly disgusted. The rest of us looked a lot disgusted.

"_Dude!_" I yelled.

"Sick!" Kyoko agreed.

Honako just shook her head in disgust and inched away from him.

"Raven. Next."

"My name is Kyoko Jalika. I like training and comic books and videogames," I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I never realized Kyoko was such a closet nerd. "and dogs." _Okay, what the hell?_ "I dislike pretty much everything girly. Rainbows, flowers, kittens, babies, the color pink. The list goes on and on. My dream for the future...well, I don't really know yet. And my hobbies are training and playing videogames."

"Okay, we're done with that. Now, you will all be doing a survival exercise-" There were groans all around. "-which I will explain in just a minute. You see, out of the twenty-seven kids who graduated from the Academy, only twelve will actually go on to be genin. This survival exercise will determine if you are skilled enough to be one of those twelve." Asuka turned to look at me. "Except for you, Tsunami. You will go to the Hokage's office right now. The other three, meet me at dawn tomorrow morning."

"But what about the survival exercise?" I asked.

Asuka-sensei smiled at me. "You automatically pass."

"Asuka-sensei, I protest!" Honako cried.

"Hey, no fair!" Kyoko moaned.

"Good for you, dollface," Link said, grinning at me.

"KICKASS!" I yelled, jumping up.

"You can leave now, Tsunami," Asuka said impatiently as Honako and Kyoko began to loudly protest me getting off easy.

I walked away from them, making my way to the Hokage's office. I knocked, softly. At first there was no response. _Maybe he's not here,_ I thought, doubtfully but then the door opened and the 3rd Hokag smiled, warmly at me.

"Come in, Tsunami. Did Asuka send you?" I nodded. "Good." He moved out of the way as I made my way inside.

"So what's this about?" I asked.

"There are some things we need to talk about," he replied, calmly and about a thousand things ran through my mind: _What if he knows it was me who burned my house down? What if he knows that it was me and Naruto who vandalized the Academy that one time? Or worse! What if he knows it was me who almost _burned_ the Academy to the ground? Oh God, Oh God!_

"It's about you being an angel," he explained and I relaxed.

"Okay, cool. What about it?"

"I had Iruka teach your class about angels so that not only you, but your classmates would learn about them before you told everyone. So that they would all understand angels and learn not to judge them." _Damn, it sounds like I'm coming out of the closet or something, _I thought and that made me smirk. Thankfully, the Hokage didn't notice.

"...I called you down here to give you your powers back."

"_Really?_" I cried, happily and he nodded.

"Yes. It should be easy, seeing as your body will willingly take them back. Shut your eyes, this will only take a second." I did so, and felt the Hokage's hands on me. I felt the same warmth that I had when he took my powers _away._

Then suddenly I felt them being shot into me like a catapult and that was the last thing I remembered before I passed out.


	34. What I'm Here For

**I would just like to explain something real quick before the chapter. Now that I'm writing chapters to go along with the episodes, I have to clear something up. Yes, there will be episode chapters, but not every chapter has to go along with the episode. If there's no episode title on the top of the page, then that means then I'm probably adding stuff in between and stuff like that. Just like this chapter.**

**Love, Rachel**

"...you went to the Hokage's office? What happened?" Naruto asked me. We were sitting at Ichiraku's ramen shop while we told each other about our last couple of days. Naruto was telling me all about how his cleverness was the reason that he, Sakura, _and_ Sasuke all passed Kakashi's test (I'm pretty sure that's not how it happened but whatever) when I told him the Hokage called me down to his office about my powers.

"It was really weird, dude. The Hokage did the same thing when he took my powers away to give them back, but I passed out," I explained and Naruto looked alarmed.

"_You passed out?_ Tsunami, are you okay? Did something go wrong?"

I laughed. "Calm down, Nine-Tails. I'm fine. My body just wasn't prepared for all the powers to be suddenly returned to my body after they were gone all these years. Or that's what the Hokage said." I shrugged. "And from what Kyoko's told me, everyone on my team passed, too."

"Awesome! Wait, you passed automatically, right?" I nodded. "YEAH! This is gonna be so cool! We're officialy ninjas now!"

"Yep," I said, grinning and nibbling on my ramen while Naruto started on his third bowl.

"Oh yeah," I poped up and he turned to look at me. "the Hokage told me that he's telling all of the sensei's about me being an angel so they can tell all their students."

"Why would he do that?" Naruto asked.

"Because then if any of you are in trouble, you can call on me for assistance. It's one of my powers, remember?"

"Oh yeah."

"So if anyone's hurt or in trouble, just call me so I can heal them or help you out." I shot him a smile. "It's what I'm her e for."


	35. The Oath of Pain

_**The Oath of Pain**_

Honako, Link, Kyoko, and I were at the chief counselor's house, babysitting his three-year-old as our "mission". Asuka-sensei was watching TV, I mean "supervising", and I sent Link in the other room, so as not to smoke around the baby.

"This mission is totally lame," Kyoko complained.

"A mission is a mission. Quit complaining," Honako snapped, and I handed her the little girl.

"You can hardly count this a mission. I mean, _come on._ We're ninjas now, I'm a freakin' _angel. _I think we should be getting more advanced stuff," I said, agreeding with Kyoko.

"And you _will,_" Asuka-sensei reassured us from the living room. "Now shut up and watch the damn baby." This was why she wasn't helping us take care of the toddler. "Link, put the Playboy away and put out that cigarette and go help the girls!"

"I hate kids," Link argued, but he did as he was told and soon joined us, porn-free and cigarette-free.

"_Here! _You take the brat!" Honako cried, shoving Suzume (the toddler) into Link's arms.

"I can see someone else who hates kids," Kyoko commented and Honako flipped her off, grumbling to herself,

"I want a real mission."

_"Tsunami!"_ I jerked my head up, suddenly hearing Naruto's voice in my head. I saw him on the ground, in a forest, looking _terrified_ with a guy with a huge-ass sword standing in front of him. Naruto's mouth wasn't moving, but I could hear his voice. Was I reading his thoughts? Sweet. _"I-I need you."_

I could feel myself starting to fade away, the chief counselor's house starting to disappear and trees and bushes starting to pop up around me. "Real mission, here I come," I boasted, and then waved mockingly at my staring teammates. "Later, guys."

"Tsunami, weak," Link said, and Kyoko groaned, loudly.

"I'm fucking _jealous! _Take me with you!" But I was gone, sitting on the ground in a forest, surrounded by Team 7, the sword guy, and some other guy.

"What are you thinking charging at him by yourself?" Sakura yelled at Naruto, who was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. "Even Sasuke couldn't get to him! We're only genin, we can't defeat a jonin! What did you think you would accomplish by that?"

"Whoa," I said. "What'd I miss?"

Naruto snapped his head up to look at me, his headband clenched in his left hand. "Tsunami! You came!"

"But I guess you don't need me, eh, chief?" I asked, winking at him and he glowed.

"The angel's here. Now we stand a chance," Sasuke said, and Sakura stared at Naruto.

"You summoned her? When? I was watching you the whole time!"

"In my head," he explained.

The sword guy was holding Kakashi-sensei in some kind of prison, while one of his clowns was standing before us, doing all the fighting. He said, "An angel, huh? I didn't see that coming."

"Alright, Sasuke, listen up. Can you hear me?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I hear you," Sasuke replied.

"I got a plan."

"Heh. So you're finally thinking about teamwork, huh?"

"Dammit, Naruto, what the hell? Why did you even call me here if you don't need me?" I asked, bitterly as I picked myself up off the ground and he flashed a grin in my direction.

"Sorry, Tsunami. I panicked."

_Great,_ I thought. _Now I have no way of getting back to the Hidden Leaf Village. And I don't even get to fight in this mission. I hate my life._

"Alright..." Naruto said. "Let's go wild!" He paused. "Okay...ready? Let's bring this guy down!"

The clone of the sword guy laughed. "Big words for such a little man. You think your plan is going to keep you in the game?"

"What are you doing? I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off!" Kakashi cried from inside the shield he was trapped in. "Your mission isn't to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridgebuilder! _Stay on mission!_"

I walked over to the bridgebuilder and Sakura and closed my eyes, concentrating on defending the bridgebuilder and I felt a strain of power. I opened my eyes and saw a large, clear bubble surrounding the bridgebuilder, Sakura, and I. "The bridgebuilder's safe!" I called. If anyone knew how strong my angel powers were, it was Kakashi.

"Well...I guess this all happened because of me. Because of my desire to live. But now that I'm safe, I won't let that stand in your way. Forget about me and do what you have to do! Go ahead and fight to save your sensei!" the bridgebuilder cried.

"Alright. You hear that?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah! Believe it! You ready?" Naruto said.

The clone started laughing, demonically. "You really haven't learned anything, have you? Still playing your little game, _pretending_ to be ninja. When I was your age," he lifted up his right hand. "this hand had already crushed many opponents."

_What?_ I thought as Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and I all stared at him in horror, shock, and disbelief.

"Zabuza...you demon," Kakashi murmured.

"So I'm in your book, too, huh?" Zabuza asked.

"Long ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi started to explain. "also known as Bloodmist Village, before a student could become a ninja, there was one final test."

"Hmm? You know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza asked him.

"What graduation exam?" Naruto asked, and Zabuza started to laugh. "What's the big deal, anyway? We had graduation tests, too!"

"Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" _No way,_ I thought, numbly. "Imagine young ninja like you. Eating together, training together, then comes the final exam, only they changed the rules. Kill or be killed! You can't stop while your opponent still breathes. He was your friend, shared your dreams! Now it's him...or you."

"That's so cruel!" Sakura whimpered, and I had to agree, even though I hate her. _I could never kill Naruto or Shikamaru. Ever. I'd rather them kill me._

"Ten years ago, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, the graduation exam changed. One year before, a dark evil had filled the school with terror," Kakashi said.

"What's he saying?" Sakura asked. "What evil? What kind of change? What caused the terror?"

"Without pause or hesitation, one boy, who was not even a ninja, approached the class and took down over a hundred other students."

"It felt so...GOOD!" Zabuza snarled and I went cold inside. That boy, that _dark evil_ was him? _We're way out of our league with this guy..._

Sasuke lunged at him, but clone Zabuza kicked him down to the ground and slammed his large fist down on Sasuke's stomach, causing him to spit up blood. And lots of it.

"SASUKE!" Sakura cried. Clone Zabuza planted his foot on Sasuke's chest, pinning him to the ground.

"You're nothing."

"_Stop right there!_" Naruto cried, making a familiar hand sign. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Suddenly, about a hundred Naruto's surrounded clone Zabuza.

"HERE WE GO!" they all cried, jumping up in the air and landing down on clone Zabuza with their kunai's, but he just sent them all flying.

"There's no way to advance. He's too powerful, there's no way to defeat him!" the bridgebuilder cried as the Naruto Shadow Clones disappeared one by one with a puff of smoke.

"I'm not giving up! I've still got this!" Naruto cried, digging through his bag as he skidded across the ground. He threw a shuriken into the air and yelled, "Sasuke!" who reached his arm out and caught it with ease.

"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!"

"A shuriken? You'll never touch me with that," clone Zabuza mocked. Sasuke jumped up in the air, hurling the shuriken at him, except the shuriken went right around clone Zabuza and headed for the real one.

"So...you passed the clone and aimed for my real body," Zabuza observed. "Smart." He reached out and caught the shuriken. "But not smart enough!" At that moment, _another_ shuriken came hurling at him. "Huh? A second shuriken in the shadow of the first? The Shadow Shuriken jutsu!"

"The second shuriken's on target," Sakura whispered to me. "and he can't catch this one!" It was true. Zabuza's right hand was holding Kakashi in the shield and the other was grabbing the first shuriken. But Zabuza simply jumped over the shuriken without breaking a sweat.

"I told you a shuriken will never touch me!" But the second shuriken turned into Naruto with a poof of smoke and he threw a kunai in Zabuza's direction.

"Eat this!"

_Well, I wanted a real mission,_ I thought. _and I got one._


	36. Kakashi: Sharingan Warrior!

_**Kakashi: Sharingan Warrior!**_

The kunai flew at Zabuza and he was forced to let Kakashi out of the water prison to dodge it.

"I'll destroy you!" Zabuza yelled angrily at Naruto, spinning the shuriken forcefully in his fingers. Kakashi got in Zabuza's way before he could do anything and Naruto landed in the water.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried, gleefully as Naruto emerged from the water, gasping for breath.

"Naruto...that was an excellent plan. You've really grown, haven't you?" Kakashi-sensei said.

"Hahaha! I knew I couldn't beat him with my shadow clones, that was just to distract him! While he fought the clones, _I _turned into the Demon Wind Shuriken. He didn't know what to do, believe it!" Naruto explained. "I used one of the clones to transform into the shuriken. When I threw it to Sasuke, it looked like a _real_ shuriken! Sasuke could tell it was me in a second. He spun around so no one could see when he pulled out his own shuriken! Now there were _two_ shuriken. One was real, one was _me._ I hid in the shadow of the real shuriken, and my target was the real Zabuza. Of course I knew I couldn't fight Zabuza myself, that wasn't in the game plan! I just wanted to get in there and break up his water prison! I didn't know his clone was gonna be wrecked, too! Ha! That was a bonus, believe it!"

"Don't brag, you just lucked out," Sasuke said.

"_Alright, Naruto! I knew you had it in you!_" I shrieked, happily.

"The whole thing was just a fluke!" the bridgebuilder argued and I told him to shut up.

"I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison," Zabuza said and I scoffed.

"Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted...you were forced to let go!" Kakashi argued. "Your technique workd on me once, but it won't work again!"

"Heh."

"So. What's it gonna be?" Kakashi asked.

_Wait, what's going on?_ I thought, confused as Sasuke looked at Sakura.

"Sakura. You know what to do." I allowed him to enter my shield so he could help protect the bridgebuilder.

Zabuza snickered and closed the shuriken, trying to force it on Kakashi. Kakashi tossed the shuriken aside and they both flew backwards and Zabuza started making complicated hand signs, Kakashi following suit.

"The Sharingan!" Sasuke cried.

They ended with the final hand sign and both cried: "Water Stye: Water Dragon Jutsu!" just as two dragons made out of water emerged from the lake, and started to fight each other.

"Naruto! Get out of there!" I screamed just as the water rushed onto land. I clenched my teeth and strengthened the shield, and watched as the water moved around us. There was a big splash of water and then Zabuza were both standing on the water, sword to kunai, as water sprinkled down everywhere. I hate to admit it, but it looked _really_ cool.

They flew away from each other again, and ran in a complete circle until they were where the other had just been standing. They both lifted up their left hand, and put the other hand to their lips.

"What the _hell_ are they doing!" I asked.

"He's not just following...he moves the same way at the same time!" the bridgebuilder cried.

"How's he doing that? How, Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Kakashi and Zabuza kept doing random hand signs and movements, the _same_ hand signs and movements. Kakashi was taunting him, but I wasn't really listening.

"All you're doing is copying me like a monkey!" Zabuza said and then they _both _said: "You can't beat me with cheap tricks! I'll crush you!" Zabuza angrily started performing hand signs. "When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!"

So maybe I was listening. A little.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" Kakashi cried and the water started to swirl around him.

"What!" The water turned into a ball and lunged at Zabuza. "Impossible!" He disappeared in the water.

Water shot across the land like a bullet, its force against my shield was strong. _Goddammit..._ I thought, remembering the Hokage telling me that the shield gets stronger as I get stronger. And keeping up this shield was starting to wear me down.

Naruto crashed onto the shore with a yell, grabbing onto a branch as the water twisted and turned. Zabuza appeared, leaning up against a tree, worn out and almost defeated as water swirled around him at waist-deep level. Four kunai's were flung in his direction and he cried out in pain when he was hit. Kakashi was squatting in one of the branches of the tree, above:

"You're finished!"

The water receded back to the lake, and I saw that it had destroyed many plants and trees, as it took the green things back with it.

"_How?_ Can you...see into the future?" Zabuza asked.

"Yes," Kakashi replied. "This is your last battle. Ever."

Two needles appeared out of nowhere, slicing through the air before they hit Zabuza in the neck, knocking him over. A masked boy was standing in a tree, looking down at us.

"You were right. It _was_ his last battle," the boy said as Naruto dragged himself to the shore with a gasp. Kakashi dropped down next to Zabuza to feel his pulse.

"No vital signs. Hmm."

"Thank you," the boy said. "I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time. Waiting for this chance, to finally take him down."

"You're welcome," I replied, smugly.

"By your mask, I see you are a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi observed.

"Impressive. You're well informed."

"A tracker!" Naruto cried, jumping in front of us. By this time, I had taken down my shield (and was reganing my strength).

"Naruto, you don't even know what that is!" Sakura cried. "You missed the lesson on it, as usual. Tracker ninja have a special role. Try coming to class sometime! When a rogue ninja breaks away from his village, he carries all kinds of secrets with him, the secrets of his people. Trackers are specially trained to hunt down these ninja and eliminate them. That way, the secrets of their people _remain_ secrets."

"That's correct. I'm a member of the Elite Tracking Unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza," the boy said.

Naruto ran up to him angrily, looking back and forth from him to Zabuza. "What is this? Who do you think you are?" The boy was silent. "_Did you hear me?_"

"Easy, Naruto," Kakashi said, standing up. "He's not our enemy."

"That's not the point! Did you see what he did, just like _that?_ Zabuza was huge and powerful, like some kind of monster...and this kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with _one_ move! Like it was nothing! I mean, what does that make us? We're just fumbling around! We don't know _anything!_ How can I accept that?"

Kakashi approached him. "Well, even if you _don't_ accept it...still, it _did_ happen, Naruto." He ruffled Naruto's blonde locks. "In this world, there are kids who are younger than you and yet, stronger than me."

The boy disappeared with a flur of leaves and then reappeared by Zabuza's side. He put the large man over his shoulder and said, "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body that must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me. Farewell." There was the flur of leaves again, and then both of them were gone.

"He disappeared!" Naruto cried and ran over to the spot where they once were.

"He's gone, Naruto. Let it go," Kakashi said.

Naruto fell to his knees with a grunt, and started to punch the ground. "What are we doing here? We're nothing! I can't believe it!"

"Naruto..." Sakura murmured, but I just stared at my best friend in awe. I didn't want to admit it, but he had a point. We were nothing...

Kakashi caught Naruto's fist on the backswing. "As ninja, the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger for the next enemy." He released Naruto, who sat there, exhausted and upset. Kakashi turned around. "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridgebuilder to his bridge. Tsunami, since we have no way of getting you back to the Leaf Village, you can come with us."

"Okay."

"Hehe! Sorry I caused all this trouble for ya'! But uh, you can rest in my house when we get to the village," the bridgebuilder said.

"Alright! Let's get a move on!" Kakashi ordered and everyone started walking. But then he froze, and fell to the ground. I sprinted towards him, along with everyone else.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried. "_Kakashi-sensei!_"

Suddenly, I wished I was back in the Hidden Leaf Village with the chief counselman's three-year-old. I didn't sign up for this! _Sometimes,_ I thought, _it sucks being an angel._


	37. The Forest of Chakra

_**The Forest of Chakra**_

"We should go check on Kakashi," I said, standing up. Right now, I was in the bridgebuilder's kitchen with Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. They all agreed and we walked into the room where he was lying on a bed/sleeping bag, awake now.

"Look! The sensei's coming around!" Naruto cried.

"Listen, sensei," Sakura said, kneeling down next to him. "your Sharingan is amazing and everything, but if it puts that much strain on you, maybe it's not worth it!"

"Sorry..." Kakashi muttered.

"Huh. Well, he _did_ take down one of the most powerful ninja assassins, so we'll be safe for a while," the bridgebuilder said, as Naruto, Sasuke, and I knelt down too.

"Right. You know that boy with the mask? What about him?" Sakura asked.

"He's from the Elite Tracking Unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Those masks are only worn by the most elite shinobi," Kakashi replied.

"What exactly do they do?"

"The Onbu Black Ops, **(sorry if I spelled onbu wrong..*sarcasm*) **also known as the Inferno Squad, destroy all traces of a rogue ninja's corpse. The shinobi's body contains many secrets."

"Secrets? What secrets could be hidden in a _body?_" I protested. "I mean, come on. It's a _dead body._"

"Ninjustu, chakra, special mecicines used on his body," Kakashi answered.

"Oh."

"These are the secrets of his village. If his enemies find them, his people will be in grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, he would try to analyze my Sharingan. In the worst case, my entire jutsu could be stolen and used against our home village. It is the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this, to keep the villages' secrets safe. If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt him down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty," Kakashi explained and slowly sat him, putting a hand to his face. He looked worn out.

"Hey, are you okay? Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm?" Kakashi said, looking up. "Oh. Yeah. To finish what I was saying, tracker ninja deal with the body immediately, on the spot. So there's no room for error."

"Is that really important?" Sakura asked.

"Think about it. Do you remember what that tracker did with Zabuza's body?"

"We don't know what he did! I guess he took it away somewhere."

"Exactly. But why? He should have worked on Zabuza right there," Kakashi said. "as quickly as possible."

"Maybe he gets stage fright," I suggested. He ignored me and continued,

"Think of the weapons he used for the take down. Do you remember what they were?"

"Throwing needles," Sasuke answered. "No way!"

"Exactly. None of it adds up," Kakashi agreed.

"I'm lost," I whispered to Naruto who whispered back,

"Me too." I giggled.

"What are you all yammering about? You _demolished_ that assassin!" the bridgebuilder cried.

"Here's the truth: Zabuza is still alive," Kakashi announced.

"_Huh!_" Sakura, Naruto, the bridgebuilder, and I all cried. _Seriously, what the fuck! He was dead! I _saw_ him die!_

"But we saw his body, believe it!" Naruto cried.

"Kakashi-sensei, you checked him yourself! You said his heart stopped!" Sakura protested.

"His heart _did_ stop but that was just a temporary state...to simulate death. The weapons that tracker used are called sen bultin (sp?). They can pierce deeply but barely kill unless they hit a vital organ. _Not_ in the neck. They're modified from needles used for medical treatments like acupuncure. Trackers are trained to know every detail of the human body, causing the heart to stop temperarily while keeping the body alive is an easy matter for them.

"First, he carried Zabuza's body away, even though it's much heavier than he is. Second, he used sen bultin, which have a precise effect but are rarely fatal. From these two factors, we can conclude that the tracker wasn't trying to _destroy_ Zabuza, he was trying to save him."

"Damn, you're smart," I said.

"Come on, you're overthinking this, aren't you?" the bridgebuilder asked.

"_Encountering suspicion, the ninja prepares quickly. Hesitation leads to disaster._ Every shinobi knows this saying," Kakashi said.

"Sensei...you said prepare quickly. But how can we do that when you can barely move?" Sakura asked and Kakashi chuckled. "Huh?"

"I can still train you."

"Hold on! A little _last-minute training_ isn't going to make us strong enough to fight Zabuza! _You_ could barely defeat him, even with your Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!" Sakura cried.

"Sakura...why was I able to stop Zabuza? Because you all helped me. You've _grown._ Naruto, you've grown the most."

"Chhyeahh, Naruto!" I yelled.

"So you noticed, Kakashi-sensei! Things are gonna get better, believe it!" Naruto cried, curling his hands into fists.

"I don't believe it! And nothing's going to be good!" a small child's voice cried from behind us. We all turned around and saw a black-haired boy, around Rayne's age, standing in the doorway. Naruto pointed a finger at him and cried, "_Who are you!_"

"Aagh! Inari, where have you been?" the bridgebuilder cried and Inari ran towards him, giving him a hug.

"Welcome back, Grandpa!"

"Inari, that was very rude!" his mother scolded him. "These ninja have helped your grandpa and brought him here safely!"

"It's okay, it's okay, I'm rude to them, too!" the bridgebuilder said and Inari scanned the room, staring at us. He stood up.

"Mom, don't you see these people are going to die? Gato and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out!"

Naruto jumped to his feet, angrily. "What did you say, brat! Listen, you know what a Super Ninja is? Well, that's me, only a _lot_ better! I'm gonna be Hokage! This Gato or Blato or whatever he's called is no match for a real hero like me!"

"Ha. There's no such thing as a hero. You're just full of stupid ideas!" Inari cried, and at first Naruto was in shock. Then Sakura and I had to hold him back to keep him from ripping that kid apart.

"Naruto, calm down!" Sakura cried.

"Seriously, dude, _chill!_" I agreed.

"If you want to stay alive, you should go back where you came from," Inari snapped and started towards the door.

"Inari, wait! Where are you going?" the bridgebuilder asked.

"To look out at the ocean! I wanna be alone!" Then he was gone.

"Sorry about that," the bridgebuilder said.

"I'm gonna go talk to him," I decided, backing away from Naruto.

"I'm coming, too!" the blonde yelled, angrily.

"_No,_ Naru-" Sakura started, but I interrupted her.

"Fine. Come on."

Naruto and I started following Inari, walking up the stairs. "Who does that brat think he is? _I'm_ gonna put him in his place right _now!_" Naruto said.

"No you _won't,_ dickface. You'll only make it worse. Let me talk to him," I insisted. We walked along a hallway, Naruto grumbling to himself when we heard someone crying. Naruto and I stuck our heads in the door it was coming from and saw Inari looking out the window, sobbing and whimpering,

"No, Daddy, no."

"Let me handle this," I whispered and slipped inside. "Hey. Are you okay?"

"Whaa?" Inari cried, spinning around and quickly wiping away his tears, hiding a picture frame behind his back. "Go away! I want to be alone!"

"My dad died too when I was your age," I whispered, ignoring him. Inari suddenly wasn't angry anymore, and he just stared at me.

"He did?"

"Yeah. He was killed by the leader of our rival clan, because they wanted something that I had, and my dad wouldn't hand me over to them." I took a deep breath. "So he killed him."

"Well, he must've been _stupid_ to try to play hero!"

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and cocked an eyebrow. "So you're saying he should've handed me over? I'm sure he would've been nominated Father of the Year for that."

Inari looked ashamed. "I didn't mean it like that." He stared down at his feet. "My dad called himself a hero, too, and it got him killed."

"Sometimes it's worth it, when you're protecting someone you care about."

**Xxx**

I was sitting in the kitchen with Inari's mom, who was also named Tsunami, while Kakashi took Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke out training. I stayed behind because Kakashi didn't know my chakra levels or that much about angels because I wasn't his student and because Inari practically begged me to stay. Apparently I was the only one he actually likes.


	38. The Land Where a Hero Once Lived

_**The Land Where a Hero Once Lived**_

Everyone turned their attention to the picture on the wall, with the top right hand corner torn out as the bridgebuilder finished telling us the story about Kaiza, a story I had already heard from both Inari and the other Tsunami while everyone was off training. It was still a heartwrenching story, though.

Naruto jumped up from the table, and then tripped and landed on his face.

"What are you doing down there, Naruto?" Sakura asked, impatiently as he scrambled to his feet.

"You'd better take the day off. No more training. You've used too much chakra. If you push any harder, it could kill you," Kakashi said.

"I'm gonna _prove it!_" Naruto cried.

"Hmm?" the bridgebuilder murmured.

"Prove _what?_" Sakura asked.

"I'll prove that...that it's true! That in this world..._there are real heroes!_"

**Xxx**

"Psst. Tsunami, are you awake?"

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, and then glanced at the window. It was the middle of the night, and everyone was sleeping, except for Naruto who was tapping on the window.

"Naruto?" I whispered clambering over to the window and opening it. "What are you doing here?"

"Come on! I have to show you something!" he hissed. I glanced back at Sasuke and Sakura, to make sure they were still sleeping soundly and then muttered,

"Fine."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and he put his hands on my waist to help me out the window.

"Did it ever occur to you," I started, slowly as we walked to the forest, where he had been training all night. "that you could have just called me out to the forest instead of walking all the way here?"

"Uhh...I didn't think of that," he admitted, sheepishly and I grinned.

"Figured. _And now I have to _walk_ all the way there!_"

"I'm _sorry!_" he moaned, and I laughed.

"I'm kidding." We got to their training area and Naruto ran almost to the top of the tree before slashing the spot with his kunai and came falling down, landing on his feet like a cat.

"It took me all _night_ to get up there! No way is Sasuke going to beat me tomorrow!" Naruto cried and then collapsed on his back. "God_damn,_ am I tired!"

"Then come back to the house and go to bed," I replied, laying down next to him on the grass. He had his arms behind his head, and his right elbow was in my face. "I'm not very comfortable, you know."

"Oh, here," he said, sliding his right arm underneath my neck so that my head rested on his forearm.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Naruto turned to look at me. "It was really cool of you to come and help when I called you."

"It's not like I had a choice," I argued.

"But still," Naruto insisted, and slowly reached up his other hand to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. "You're a really good friend, Tsunami."

I tore away from his gaze so he wouldn't see me blushing. "Thanks, Naruto."

**Xxx**

"I can't wait for Zabuza to show up again! Then I can show him and _everyone_ else how strong I am!" Naruto bragged as we walked back to the house.

"Well, be careful out there, slick. I don't want to see you getting killed or anything," I said as the bridgebuilder's house loomed into view.

"I won't."

"You won't get killed or you won't be careful?"

"I won't get killed!" he cried and I laughed.

"Good."

We walked up to the house and I started to climb back in through the window when Naruto tapped me on the shoulder. I turned to look at him. "What?"

"You're a good friend, Tsunami," he said and pressed his lips against my cheek before smiling at me and turning back towards the forest.

"Naruto...where are you going?" I asked, blushing like mad.

"Back to the forest! A good ninja's gotta stay sharp!" he yelled, his voice ringing into the cold night.


	39. Battle on the Bridge! Zabuza Returns!

**Author's Note: Alright. So, since there's a new chapter up, you can probably guess that I decided not to delete or let anyone adopt Cloud 9. And I hope you all are very grateful because I'm sacrificing my summer to you people to get this story done! Yes, Cloud 9 is officially my summer project. Since it takes more work than my other stories (save Donna Pinciotti's Diary) it'll probably take the entire three months before school starts to finish this thing. If I even manage to finish it before school rolls around, which I honestly hope I do because during the school year, I don't have the time to update as often. While during the summer, I update every day because, let's face it, I have no life. So I'm going to try my hardest to finish this story before I go into high school!**

**You're probably all wondering why I decided to keep Cloud 9. And if you're not, then you're going to learn why, anyways. My friend and loyal reviewer, Echo Uchiha, offered to take the story off my hands but as I was handing it over I realized that I just **_**couldn't.**_** My stories are like my babies, people! You can't just raise and nurture a baby for 38 weeks (aka chapters) and then hand it over to someone else to raise for the rest of their life. Well, you might be able to but I couldn't. Again, I'm sorry, Echo Uchiha, and I hope you understand.**

**To be honest, I'm a little bit ashamed of myself for being so selfish as to try to deny you and myself the opportunity to see this story finished. And I know that many, if not all of you would have been disappointed if I let someone take over this story or deleted it altogether. I'm sorry that almost happened.**

**I, for one, am very excited about where this fanfic is going and am fucking **_**ecstatic**_** about being able to write in nonstop this summer.**

**Love, Rachel**

_**Battle on the Bridge! Zabuza Returns!**_

"Hey. Hey, Tsunami, you gotta wake up," a voice whispered to me as small hands shook me awake.

"Rayne, go away before I punch you in the face," I muttered, rolling over and away from the voice.

"Who's Rayne?" Surprised, I sat up and found myself face to face with a small, black-haired boy. At first I didn't know who he was or where _I_ was but all the memories came flooding back and I smiled.

"Sorry, Inari. I thought you were someone else."

"Who?"

"My little brother back home. He's about your age," I replied and rubbed my eyes, looking around. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"You slept for a long time so they left. I don't know where they went," Inari responded, sitting down next to me.

"How come no one woke me up?" I asked, trying not to show how irritated I was. I wasn't at all shocked that Sasuke didn't wake me, considering he thought I was just another Naruto to deal with. And I was sort of annoyed that Sakura didn't wake me, that bitch. But mostly I was pissed because no one else had. Not Naruto, not Kakashi-sensei, not Inari. Didn't they think I was important enough to be here?

"Naruto tried, but you wouldn't budge. You just kept telling him to..." he paused, uneasily.

"Fuck off?" I guessed, as that was what Naruto said that I usually told him when he tried to wake me up in the mornings. "Yeah. Sorry about the language, kiddo. Don't follow in my footsteps. What time is it?"

"Almost one-thirty."

"_What?_" I muttered several curse words in my rush to get dressed and raced into the kitchen to talk to Inari's mom, or as I like to call her, 'The Other Tsunami'. "Where is everyone?"

"Oh, Tsunami, you're awake," she said, smiling at me, kindly. "The others left a while ago to check out the progress on the bridge and left you and Naruto behind to rest. But he left twenty minutes ago to go after them."

_Son of a bitch, _I thought, angrily, as I charged out the front door after all the people who ditched me.

Did I mention that there are a quite a few things that happened yesterday that you should know about? I won't bore you with the details but Naruto stayed out all night so Sasuke and I went out to go find him, and that's where I found out that he thought of me as just another Naruto for him to deal with. Luckily, we did some (what's the word? bonding?) when Sakura's name came up and we spent a half an hour talking about how annoying she was.

Then, at dinner, Naruto and Inari got into one of their little spats again. But when Inari said that Naruto didn't know what it felt like to be treated like dirt, I knew this time would be different. Naruto called Inari a coward and the raven-haired boy cried and it was just this whole big mess.

And now here I am, jumping throughout the forest, trying to find my friends. If I could even call them that.

With all the thoughts swimming around in that weird brain of mine, I didn't notice that I was being followed until a kunai plunged into my side and sent me hurling towards the ground below. I cried out in pain and everything around me spun. If it was because I was falling or because I was dizzy or _both,_ I'll never know. I landed on my feet and with a grunt, pulled the kunai out of my flesh as three thug-like guys landed around me.

"What the _hell!_" I yelled, referring to the blood-soaked kunai that I was waving around. The largest one smiled, maliciously.

"Gato ordered us to take out an angel. Can't have you getting in the way of him destroying that stupid bridge," he replied.

"Wait. How did you know _I_ was the angel?" I asked.

"We didn't. But we do know."

"_Dammit!_"

The smallest one, with a scar over his eye came running at me with a kunai, and I roundhouse kicked him into the largest one, both of them toppling over. I smirked to myself, thinking about how lame Gato's henchmen were when the third one (_Crap! I forgot about the third one!_) ran forward and raised a machete, much like Zabuza's huge sword. Before I even had time to react, it was slicing through my skin as the sword cut my body into two.


	40. Heaven

**Author's Note: I, in no way, want this story to be religious which is why God won't be mentioned at all. I'm not saying he is real in the story but I'm also not saying that he's not. I just don't want this to be religious. I will, however, be mentioning heaven and hell a lot and this is just what **_**I**_** think they look like.**

**Rachel**

"Oh, look. I think she's coming to. It's about time you woke up, silly!" a kind voice cried, happily and I groaned and rubbed my eyes.

White. Lots of white. _Everywhere._ That's all I can see. _Wait,_ I thought as a face came into view. It was a girl, with light brown hair and chocolatey-brown eyes. But more importantly, she was _beautiful._ The most beautiful creature I had ever seen, and it took my breath away.

"Where am I?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Heaven."

"Huh?" I sat up and looked around. And sure enough, if there was ever a heaven, this is what it would look like. I was lying on a cloud-the entire _floor_ was made of clouds and sun shone down on angels talking, interacting with each other, peacefully. They were all as beautiful as this girl. The boys and the girls, they were all completely flawless. But what stood out most was how I could tell they were angels. The wings on these people were the silkiest, most elegant thing I'd ever seen.

"Hey, where are my wings?" I asked, stubbornly and the girl laughed and gestured to behind me. I turned around and saw a pair of elegant wings of my own attached to my back. I flapped them, causing a gust of wind to pick up and I quickly stopped.

The other angels looked over in my direction after noticing the change in atmosphere, and they all smiled and waved. Some yelled, "Hi, Tsunami!" and some teased me by asking, "How's Naruto?"

"How do they all know me?" I asked, and Tomoko smiled. _Hold on...how do I know her name? She didn't tell me, did she?_ I thought, confused, but at the same time I was positive that Tomoko was her name.

"The same way you know my name even though I didn't tell you. All angels know each other even if they don't _know it._ To be honest, Tsunami, you're quite a celebrity up here," Tomoko explained.

I blinked in surprise. "I am?"

"Of course. You're one of the few angels chosen to carry out their missions on Earth, and definitely one of the most important."

"I _am?_" I repeated and then something dawned on me. "I died. Does this mean I failed my mission?"

Tomoko laughed, and her laugh was like a melody. "No. I've been meaning to talk to you about that.

"You see, Tsunami, angels can't die. Well, actually, they _can,_ but until your mission is completed, the rest of the angels up here will keep bringing you back to life-"

"Oh, _sweet!_"

"Yeah," Tomoko said and then stared at me, as if she were studying me. "Yeah, I think you're ready."

"Ready for what?" I questioned, puzzled.

"Come with me." Tomoko took my hand and led me away from all the angels. She walked up to a man kneeling before young children at the pearly gates, all who were crying. My heart immediately went out to them. Those kids must have been no older than six or seven, and they were in heaven? They were _dead?_

"Hazuki? I'll take over from here. There's someone I want you to see," Tomoko said, tapping the man on the shoulder as his wings stirred.

_Hazuki?_ I thought, breathlessly as the man stood up and turned around.

"Tsunami? Is that you?" he whispered and tears sprang in my eyes as I yelped,

"Daddy!" before running into his arms.

"Oh, Tsunami, my baby. I've been waiting so long for your first death so I could see you again," he whispered through his tears as he stroked my hair.

"I missed you so much, Daddy," I sobbed. He stepped back to get a good look at me and smiled:

"You're so beautiful in angel form."

"Angel form?" I asked, confused as I wiped away my tears but more kept coming. Dad conjured up a mirror and I took a good look at myself. He was right. I _was_ beautiful. My normal aqua blue hair was now light blue and curly, and I looked just as perfect and flawless as the other angels.

"I know that you would really like to get caught up and believe me, Tsunami, I would too," my dad started and then paused. "but you need to get back down to Earth. They need you."

With that, he snapped his fingers and I disappeared in a flurry of mist and sparkles. When I reappeared, I was lying on the ground in the forest, completely whole again.


	41. The No 1 Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja

_**T**__**he Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja Joins the Fight!**_

I was hopping on the trees as fast as my feet would take me when the bridge was finally in sight. I sped up when I saw and explosion and heard Naruto yell,

"Naruto Uzumaki is _here!_ Hehe. Believe it!"

I jumped onto the bridge, landing on my feet and smirked widely at everyone there. Sakura was standing in front of the bridgebuilder, while Kakashi and Zabuza were squaring off and Haku was keeping Sasuke in some kind of ice prison. _Whoa. What'd I miss?_

"I'm here, too!" I announced, grinning. Ever since I got brought back to life, I was surging with power. I felt like I could take on anyone.

"Ha! Now that I'm here, everything will be alright!" Naruto cried.

"_Naruto!_" Sakura cried, gleefully. _Hey, what about me?_

"You know how in stories, the hero usually shows up at the last minute and then kicks butt? Well, that's what I'm gonna do right now! Believe it!"

"Ugh. This brat again?" Zabuza muttered.

"Aaaaalright! You're history! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, making the hand sign to do his special jutsu.

"Naruto! Move!" Kakashi cried as Zabuza threw four kunai in Naruto's direction. The blonde boy stood there frozen, and I got worried for a second but then Haku threw his needles at the kunai, knocking them off-course.

"They didn't get him," Sakura observed.

"Their weapons cancelled each other out! Amazing! Now that's what I call lucky, I think," the bridgebuilder said.

"What are you _doing, _Naruto? Are you crazy?" Sakura yelled.

"This is a battle, not a talent show! Don't let your opponent see your jutsu!" Kakashi agreed. "The shinobi's art is _deception. _Always keep the enemy guessing! Even when executing a single jutsu, one must distract their opponent's attention, catch them off balance and out-maneuver them! You just turned yourself into a human target when you enter a battle like that!"

"Aagh! I'm sorry! I was just trying to rescue everybody!" Naruto yelped in a panic.

"But…there's another mystery here," Kakashi said, looking at Haku.

"Haku! What are you doing?" Zabuza asked.

"Zabuza…this boy…let me fight him my own way," Haku replied.

"Bring. It. On!" Naruto challenged.

"So you want me to leave this to you? Is that it, Haku? As usual, you're too soft!" Zabuza taunted.

"Forgive me."

"I'm warning you!" Naruto yelled. "One way or another, I'm gonna rip off that mask and take you apart!"

"Relax, Kakashi. Sit back and enjoy the show. Let's see how they do…one-on-one," Zabuza said as I inched my way closer to Sasuke, who was surrounded by ice mirrors.

"That mask…and your bogus story! You were with Zabuza all along! You think you can get away with a stunt like that?" Naruto yelled.

"I'm sorry," Haku apologized. "but like your sensei said, deceiving your opponent, catching them off guard? _That_ is the art of the shinobi. Please don't take it personally." Sasuke threw a kunai in his direction, but Haku dodged it without hesitation. "I haven't forgotten about you. Not for an instant. Some warriors accept defeat gracefully, know when they're beat. Others do not. So be it. Let us finish our battle then, to the death." Haku walked towards the ice mirrors.

"Hey, where are you going?" Naruto cried.

"It's alright, Naruto. We'll have our fight next." Then he disappeared into one of the mirrors.

I ran over to Naruto as Sasuke was being pelted with needles and asked, "How the hell are we going to help him?"

"Sasuke! Naruto! Think! You need to attack from the outside and the inside at the _same time!_" Kakashi cried but Naruto wasn't listening.

"I've got it!" he whispered and dragged me behind him as we raced towards the ice mirrors.

"Naruto…!" I whispered as he yanked me into the circle where we were now surrounded by the ice mirrors.

"Hey! We snuck in here to save you!" Naruto whispered to Sasuke, grinning. "Pretty cool move, huh, Sasuke?"

"Naruto, _why?_" I moaned.

"You are a complete loser! You're a shinobi, think carefully before you move!" Sasuke yelled.

"What the heck's your problem? You should thank me for coming in here to help you!" Naruto yelled back.

"Naruto…if all three of us are inside here…ugh! Forget it! I've had it with your mistakes."

"_And I've had it with your attitude! Believe it!_"

"Guys, _now_ is not the time for fighting!" I cried.

"I'm going to destroy these mirrors right now!" Sasuke said, making hand signs: "Fire Style—"

"Hey, what attack are you using?" Naruto asked.

"These mirrors are made of ice, so how do you destroy ice? Figure it out! Fireball Jutsu!" He blew a large fire, making the ice mirrors sizzle a little, but not nearly enough to destroy them.

"_That didn't do anything at all!_"

"You'll need much more heat than that to melt this ice," Haku said.

"Hold on. Fire's my department. Stand back, boys, and watch how it's done," I said and enclosing Naruto and Sasuke in a safety shield before holding up my fist and spinning around, creating the hugest, wildest, _hottest_ fire I'd ever seen and watched as the ice mirrors started to melt. My fist clenched and I surged with power; I could keep on going forever! This fight was over.

"Aah!" I cried as Haku threw needles at me, making me fall to the ground and my fire to slowly die out. "That's…cheating!' I gasped as the shield around Naruto and Sasuke faded away, too.

"Tsunami!" Naruto cried, rushing over to me but Haku threw needles at him and Sasuke as well, sending them flying backwards. "Where is he? Where is the needle attack coming at us from? Are they clones?" Naruto stood up. "We've got to find the real one! Which one is it?"

"Look into every mirror as long as you like. You'll never learn the secret," Haku said.

"Oh yeah? Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"No, don't!" Sasuke cried, but it was too late. Dozens of Naruto's went flying at the ice mirrors.

"If you have a hundred mirrors then I'll make a hundred of me to smash them all! Then I'll find where you really are!" Naruto yelled, all of his clones jumping at the mirrors. I could see something black flashing all around him, but what was it? Suddenly all of Naruto's clones disappeared and he came flying back down, cut up.

"These mirrors only reflect my image, allowing me to transport myself at light speed. Through my eyes, you've been moving in slow motion," Haku explained.

"I couldn't break through. So what? He's not going to stop me! I'm not giving up and I'm not gonna lose here. Cuz I have a dream and no one's gonna take it away from me. Someday I'm gonna be respected in my village, _that's_ my dream. To be the greatest Hokage!" Naruto cried.

"It is not my desire to be a shinobi. It's painful. I don't want to kill you but if you advance, I will have no choice. Then I will kill the kindness in my own heart and fully embrace the shinobi way. Then there will be no mercy, no turning back. This bridge will be the battle in which our dreams collide. Now I must fight for my dream just as you fight for yours. Please do not blame me. I fight for someone who is precious to me. I live for him and I face death for him so that his dream may become reality. That is my dream. And for the sake of that dream, if I must, I will act as a shinobi and take your lives!" Haku said.

Naruto and Sasuke were smirking up at him, but I only sighed. 'I fight for someone who is precious to me. I live for him and I face death for him so that his dream may become reality.' _Gee, sound familiar?_


	42. Zero Visibility: The Sharingan Shatters

_**Zero Visibility: The Sharingan Shatters**_

"I didn't get to him! _Then I'll try it again! _As many times as it takes!" Naruto cried, making his hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

"Naruto! Don't!" Sasuke cried but Naruto's clones were already jumping at the crystal ice mirrors, but it had the same effect as before: all the clones shattered and Naruto sprawling back on his butt.

Naruto scrambled back to his feet. "How is he doing that?" Sasuke got this funny look on his face and I could tell he was up to something. "One more time! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto tried the jutsu again, but with the same result—again. But this time, Sasuke kicked up a puddle of water and I definitely knew that he knew something about Haku's attack. But what was it?

"Don't you see that it's useless?" Haku taunted, sending Naruto flying on his butt again, and Sasuke and I shielding ourselves from flying needles.

Naruto ran at him again, screaming, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and tried the attack again.

"Tsunami!" Sasuke whispered to me. "When I give you the signal, do the Fireball Jutsu with me. I need all the firepower I can get."

"I don't know the Fireball Jutsu!" I whispered back, helplessly and he smirked.

"You're a Halu—_you know the Fireball Jutsu._"

Sasuke started making hand signs and I knew this was the cue. I sucked in and was prepared to let fire out of my mouth, but I began to worry. _What if I can't do it? What if something goes wrong? What if I let Sasuke down? What if Naruto dies because of me? What if—_

My thoughts were interrupted as fire came erupting from my mouth. I didn't even need to make hand signs. I just summoned it from the pit of my stomach, from inside my body and it was there. Sasuke and I blew a huge fireball at the middle of the ice mirrors. It seemed to me that we were just blowing fire at Naruto's shadow clones but I knew there must be something else going on.

Sasuke sucked in again and I did, too, as Naruto's shadow clones all disappeared and Naruto himself was the only one still in there. I knew he would be shot down so I just blindly followed Sasuke's lead.

Naruto went tumbling onto the ground and I glanced over at him, worriedly, but he was already picking himself up. I let out a sigh of relief. Naruto was tough…Sasuke smirked, staring at a singe mark on Haku's pants. It showed in the mirrors.

"I was so close but I couldn't quite get to him…" Naruto trailed off.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said and the blonde boy looked at him. "Can you do it again?"

"Huh? Of course! Nothing can stop me, believe it!" he cried, fiercely.

There was a blinding light and Sasuke started making hand signs again. "Naruto!" he cried. "Run for it! Get out of here and attack from the outside! Hurry!"

"Uhh…" Naruto started, looking at me worriedly, like he was debating whether or not to take me with, but then yelled, "Alright! You got it!" He started to run.

"You cannot escape!" Haku yelled, but I just rolled my eyes.

"Shut up!"

The blinding light flashed again, sending Naruto flying backwards. He quickly stood up and started running again. "You think you can keep me here? Forget it!"

"That's it!" Sasuke shouted, turning a different direction: "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" I quickly followed his lead, adding my own fireball to his and he nodded his head in appreciation.

Suddenly, two needles came hurling our way and it hit Sasuke and I both directly in the shoulder. You can say a lot of things about Haku, but he has aim. He appeared in front of Naruto and kicked him backwards.

"I couldn't get past him," Naruto said.

"That was good, Naruto," Sasuke said, pulling the needle out of his shoulder and I followed suit. It seemed the only thing I was doing right now was copying Sasuke. I shrugged my shoulders. Oh well. He _is_ the one with the plan. I'm just the firepower. And that's fine by me. "One more time?"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

We all began running towards the exit, when Haku threw a herd of needles at all three of us, knocking us all backwards, writhing in pain.


	43. The Broken Seal

_**The Broken Seal**_

The last thing I heard before I died was Sakura scream.

I guess Haku must have sensed that I was an angel and wanted to take me out. He must have figured it would be easier to kill Naruto and Sasuke if I wasn't around. I have two needles sticking out of my chest: one puncturing my heart and the other, my lung. I was dead before I hit the ground. Haku must have also known that I would come back to life, so he had to work fast.

I could feel my spirit rising out of my body and toward the sky, but I was resisting. _I don't have time to go to heaven and hang out with all the angels—I have to see what happens! I have to make sure Naruto doesn't die!_ Because if Naruto died, then so would I…and I wouldn't come back.

"Sakura…she's in…trouble," Naruto murmured, struggling to get up. Sasuke was crouching down, needles sticking out of him as well. He looked over at me and put two fingers on my neck, feeling for my pulse. I could see his jaw clench as he figured out that there was none.

"Is she okay?" Naruto whispered, staring at me.

"She's fine. Just passed out," Sasuke lied, withdrawing his hand. He would wait until after the fight to tell Naruto my fate. If he told him now, it would only distract him.

"I'll break us out of here!" Naruto cried, shaking as he stood up. "I'll fake him out!"

"You've exhausted my patience," Haku said, irritably.

I could feel the forces of heaven pulling me upward but I attached my spirit onto my real body. It wouldn't keep me down here forever, but it would have to do.

Naruto summoned his chakra, the blue sparks flying all around him, and ran at the crystal ice mirrors. He quickly turned and ran the other way, but Haku followed him through the mirrors, just as fast.

"Naruto! Behind you!" Sasuke called and Naruto turned just as Haku pelted him with more needles. Naruto went flying backwards as Sasuke yelled out his name.

"Your chance of escaping my house of mirrors is zero. That is absolute."

"Naruto, are you able to get up?" Sasuke asked as he crouched down next to the blonde. "Try not to use any more chakra. That's only going to help him now!"

"I know, Sasuke, I know!" Naruto said before collapsing. Sasuke stood up and frowned, deep in thought.

"Looking for a counter attack? I'll save you the trouble," Haku said, throwing needles his way. Sasuke picked up a needle off the ground and blocked every single one with it.

_Whoa, _I thought._ He's good._

"Get up, loser! We've got to team up!" Sasuke snarled at Naruto, who sat up.

"I know what we have to do! Believe it, Sasuke!"

Haku threw a rainstorm of needles their way that Sasuke quickly worked hard to fend off. One patch went straight towards a weak Naruto, who Sasuke shoved out of the way to protect.

"He disappeared!" Sasuke yelled and I checked to make sure. Sure enough, every single ice mirror was empty. "Where'd he go? How could he just vanish? Naruto, you'd better not pass out again! Come on, let's go! I can't keep protecting you like this!"

"Well then don't! I never asked for your help!" Naruto choked out before fainting.

"You can't revive him. He's reached his limits," Haku informed and started to laugh. Sasuke hurled a needle at him, which Haku blocked. "Impressive. You have excellent moves. Your attacks are very skillful." Haku threw a handful of needles at him that Sasuke blocked, but not as quick this tine. "But you've reached _your_ limits as well!" Haku appeared in front of him, his body covering all the ice mirrors. "Lotur functions, reflexes, judgment. Your abilities are weakening slowly but surely. Now…_you're finished!_"

_I need to help them!_ My thoughts screamed inside my head. _Sometimes being an angel is a pain in the ass._

Haku readied for the attack, but just as he threw the needles, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's useless body and jumped out of the way. He dropped Naruto when they were both safely away and then I saw it: Sasuke had the Sharingan eyes…_just like Kakashi!_

Haku's image appeared on all the mirrors and then one raced towards Naruto, who was passed out and defenseless.

"_No!_" I screamed, trying to reach out to protect my best friend. But I couldn't be heard, I couldn't touch anything or anybody and I couldn't use any of my powers in my spiritual form. Sasuke raced towards Naruto's body as well, trying to get there before Haku.

Suddenly, I was being ripped from my hold on my human body and was being yanked upwards. I writhed and tried to hold onto something but the forces of heaven were too strong. I was suddenly right outside heaven and I noticed that I had my wings, even though I was still in spiritual form.

_Yes!_ I thought, happily. _Yes, yes, yes, YEEESS!_

I soared back down to the scene at the crystal ice mirrors. I had to make sure Naruto was okay, that's all. And then I would go back to heaven to heal and get my powers back. _I just have to make sure Naruto is okay._

When I got back to the scene, Haku was lying, face first on the ground and Sasuke was standing before him, looking like he could barely stand. Naruto was slowly getting up.

"You always…get in the way, Naruto. It never fails," Sasuke murmured but Naruto looked delighted.

"Aah! You beat him, Sasuke!" But then he noticed all the needles sticking out of Sasuke's body.

"You should've seen the look on your face. You…you looked like a total loser!"

"Why? Why did you…save me? Why did you do it?"

"I don't know why. I just did!" Sasuke replied. "You…I hated you."

"Then why?" Naruto asked, jumping to his feet. "It doesn't make any sense! You…protect me! Ugh…_I didn't ask for this!_ _I didn't ask for you to save me!_"

"I don't know. My body just moved. There was no time to think," Sasuke explained before collapsing, and Naruto quickly caught him.

"Sasuke!"

"_Sasuke!"_ I cried out but my voice was once again unheard. I wasn't alive but I wasn't dead either at the moment…

"He…he's still out there. My brother. I promised myself…I'd stay alive until…I killed him. Naruto, don't let…your dream die," Sasuke whispered and then went limp.

I bit my bottom lip and wiped away the tears that were flowing down my face. I hardly knew Sasuke. I didn't even like him that much. So why was I crying over his death?

Haku stood up. "Is this the first time you have seen a friend die in battle? This is part of what it means to be a ninja." Haku started dissolving into the ice mirror again.

"Shut up," Naruto snarled and laid Sasuke's body on the ground. "I…I hated you too, Sasuke. And yet…" Smoke rose up in a circle around their bodies. "_you'll pay for this._"

The smoke turned into red chakra and it was roaring around him, powerfully. Naruto's physical appearance began to change: his normal blue eyes turned red, the whiskers on his cheeks turned to gash marks, his teeth grew to fangs, and his fingernails were longer.

"_Naruto, don't!" _I yelled even though I knew it was useless. I knew what was happening—he was using the Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra. This couldn't end well.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Naruto yelled to Haku, angrily.

The needles shot out of Naruto's body and his wounds began to heal on their own. He was…unstoppable.

And Haku looked afraid.

All of a sudden, my wings were gone. The pull trying to pull me towards heaven was gone. There was too much bad chakra and the gate towards hell opened up in the floor beneath me. And I was falling.


	44. Hell

Ever been to hell before?

No? Well, lucky you. Because it's not a fun place. Thanks a lot, Naruto, your evil chakra summoned the gate of hell, and it sensed that there was a spirit dwelling there and sucked me right in. And I'm just going out on a limb here but I have a feeling all the monsters and demons down here won't be too pleased to see an _angel._

So I can imagine that you understood that I was scared when I woke up and I was surrounded by really scary-looking people giving me funny looks along with fire and screaming as people got tortured.

"How the fuck did you get here?" a thug-type guy asked here and my throat closed up. I couldn't speak. _He's gonna torture me. He's not gonna let me leave. He's gonna tell everyone I'm an angel!_

"Uh."

"I mean, how did you die?" he asked, smirking and I calmed down a little.

"In battle," I replied and he nodded.

"Cool. I can dig that. So what did you do to get sent down here? What could a little girl like yourself have possibly done to get sent to hell?"

"I—um—I don't—" I stammered.

The thug just laughed. "You don't want to talk about it? That's fine. I'm Daisuke. You are?"

"Tsunami."

"Hmm. It fits."

"So…um…what did you do to get sent down here?" I asked.

"I'm a hired assassin, and I killed a lot of people. Not to mention I was a total asshole to my family and everyone who cared about me," Daisuke said and then shrugged. "Oh well. Spilt milk."

"So hell gave you an attitude adjustment?" I joked and he grinned.

"I guess you could say that."

"Listen…I would love to stay and talk, but I have to get back to Earth. My friends need me. So do you know any way out of here?" I asked and that made him laugh harder.

"Sorry, girlie, there _is_ no way out. The thing you're going through right now is denial. Once you die, there's no coming back. Unless you're an angel."

"Um…" I murmured, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Holy crap! You're an angel!" Daisuke cried and a few people stared but then went back to torturing or beating the crap out of others.

"Please don't hurt me," I whimpered.

"_Are you kidding?_ It's been centuries since an angel has been in hell! And the first one that does talk to _me?_ Fuck yeah! HEY, EVERYONE! WE'VE GOT AN ANGEL HERE!"

To my surprise, all the people here weren't as malicious and scary as I thought. I mean, most of them were but there were some half-decent ones like Daisuke. And they didn't want to torture me at all, they just wanted to know what family I had been born into, what my mission was, what heaven was like, stuff like that. I never thought I would say this, but I just made friends in hell.

After I had answered all their questions, everyone went back to what they were doing, and I promised to come back soon.

"You know, hell isn't so bad," I said to Daisuke who just smirked at me.

"Says you. You've been here ten minutes. Try eternity."

"Right."

"And you've never been tortured for years," he said and showed me scars.

"Right. Sorry."

Then Daisuke told me all I have to do is transport myself back to Earth and I would be out of here. I tried to explain to him that that was a problem, because I had only ever transported when someone called me and never on my own but he just laughed and shook his head and wished me luck before walking away.

The minute I tried to transport, heaven pulled me out of there. Apparently, they had been trying to for the last ten minutes and were horribly worried about me. Since I had been dead, I was fully healed, even though I had been in hell and not heaven so I just transported back to my human body.


	45. White Past: Hidden Ambition

_**White Past: Hidden Ambition**_

When I woke up, the ice mirrors were gone. Naruto and Haku were facing each other a few yards away, talking. Naruto was normal again and Sasuke…I turned to face him. I put my hands on Sasuke's chest and summoned all my healing powers. _He's not dead,_ I thought. _He's not dead, I can feel it._

I pulled out all the needles and healed him to the point where he would be able to live and then ran over to where Naruto and Haku were standing.

"Tsunami! You're okay!" Naruto cried.

"I'm fine. What's going on?" I asked. Haku smiled at me as he continued speaking,

"I was happy.

"When Zabuza and I were over looking the village, he said to me, _"My time here is done, Haku. Tonight I cast aside the Land of Water. One day, I will return and seize this land and hold it in my hands. Many things must be done before that day comes and you will help me to do them, but I warn you. Friendship, comfort, encouragement. I do not need these things, nor should you expect them from me!"_\

"In which I replied, _"I understand. I am yours, Zabuza. I am only an instrument of your will. Think of me as a weapon to be kept at your side and used as you see fit."_ And he said, _"Well said, child."_"

Haku sighed, looking down at the ground. "I have failed you, Zabuza. I am like a weapon that has been broken and is of no further use." Haku walked towards Naruto, who took a step backwards. I held my ground. "Naruto…kill me."

"_What?_' Naruto cried, bewildered.

"Go on. Strike. Kill me. Why do you hesitate?" Haku asked.

"Ugh!" Naruto cried, angrily, stepping backwards. "That's the most ridiculous story I've ever heard! I mean, he treats you like a slave! You're a human being, not a weapon or a tool! How can you care about someone like that?"

"For that very reason."

"Huh?"

"Does that seem so strange to you?"

"Well…yeah! A little!"

Haku started to explain: "When he found me, I was without a purpose or reason for living. Zabuza gave me both. But now my usefulness is over. The only thing that gave my life meaning…it's gone. I am a broken tool, a blunted weapon, of no use to anyone. Go on, Naruto. Do it! For both of our sakes. Do it…quickly."

"Naruto…" I whispered.


	46. The Weapons Known as Shinobi

_**The Weapons Known as Shinobi**_

"Go on. Finish it. Kill me!" Haku cried. "Why do you hesitate? I thought you wanted to be a mighty warrior."

"That's not what it's about! Do you really believe that's all there is to it? Just fighting and killing until there's only one man left standing? There's a lot more to being shinobi than that! And there's other ways of showing your strength than just by beating someone in battle," Naruto said.

"I've had a feeling all along from the first moment we met in the woods. We are a lot alike," Haku said and Naruto gasped. "I'm sure you know what I mean. I'm only sorry that it must be your hand that is tainted with my unworthy blood."

"Naruto, what is he talking about?" I asked but he ignored me. Ugh.

"Sure about this? And you're positive this is the only way?" Naruto asked Haku, who answered,

"Yes."

"The weird thing is, if we met in another time and place, I think that maybe we could have been friends," Naruto said, and then his expression turned fierce. He took out a kunai and started running at Haku.

"Yes. That's right. Hold fast to your dreams," Haku said.

"_This is for Sasuke! Because he also had a dream!_" Naruto yelled as he charged, the kunai gripped in his hand. Naruto went to strike but Haku stopped him.

"Sorry, Naruto. Change of plan." He made hand signals using one hand and said, "I'm not ready to die quite yet." Then he disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" I cried.

"Huh? What? Where'd he go?" Naruto yelled, looking all around and then he spotted a shape in the mist. "Hey! The fog's lifting! Wait. Is that him?"

"Let's go find out," I said and we both ran towards the scene unfolding. Kakashi had his hand in Haku's lifeless chest, who stood in front of Zabuza.

"What? I don't get it! What the heck's going on here?" Naruto asked.

"The boy threw himself in front of my attack. He saved your worthless life at the cost of his own," Kakashi said to Zabuza, who chuckled.

"Well done, Haku."

Zabuza reached for his sword with a yell and Sakura cried, "Kakashi-sensei, watch out!"

"I knew I'd found a treasure when I found you, boy! You've not only given me my life, but Kakashi's as well!" Zabuza yelled, bringing his sword down. Kakashi grabbed Haku's body and flew backwards, out of reach.

"Heh heh heh. Not bad for having a corpse in your arms."

"You'll pay for that!" Naruto cried.

"No! Stay out of this, Naruto!" Kakashi snapped, lying Haku's body on the ground and closing his eyes. "This is _my_ battle. Zabuza's mine."

"Naruto! Over here! Naruto!" Sakura cried and Naruto sighed. "So you and Sasuke are alright?"

"Um…" he muttered, refusing to look at her.

"What's wrong? Where is Sasuke, anyway?" Sakura called and then she began to realize Sasuke's fate.

_Tell them! _I thought. _Tell them Sasuke isn't dead. He never was, he was just exhausted and out of chakra! Sasuke was just being a drama queen! TELL THEM HE'S ALVE!_

I knew it was the right thing to do. But a part of me wanted it to be a surprise. And besides, what if my healing powers hadn't been enough? What if I tell them he's alive and then…he's not?

Kakashi gazed over at Sakura but then Zabuza said, "Kakashi! I'd stay focused if I were you!" as he came charging at him. Kakashi kicked him out of the way, and I saw Sakura and the bridge builder running over to Sasuke's body. I could hear Sakura crying, I saw Naruto trying to pull himself together. Even I was crying…again. Why was I crying? Sasuke wasn't even dead. It was just…his friend's reactions were too much. I hated myself for not telling them the truth. But it was too late now.

Zabuza ran at Kakashi again who merely punched him out of the way. Kakashi punched him in the face, sending him sprawling backwards. Zabuza looked exhausted. He glared at Kakashi and yelled, _"I'll split you in half!"_ and sliced at him with the sword, but Kakashi quickly dodged. Zabuza's sword was stuck in the ground and Kakashi appeared behind him.

"Look at you. You're falling apart! I knew you didn't have what it takes to go the long haul," Kakashi mocked.

"What did you say?" Zabuza snarled.

"You have no _idea_ what real strength is."

"Well, well. So this is how it turns out, huh?" Gato said, standing on the bridge with an army of men.

No one else seemed to notice him. Kakashi pulled out his kunai and said, "Game over. You lose." Kakashi's kunai sliced through his arm and Zabuza knocked him out of the way before he did any real damage, and in the process, sent his sword sliding across the bridge.

"Now both of your arms are useless. What now? You can't even make hand signs!" Kakashi said.

"Did quite a job on you, didn't he, Zabuza? You look like yesterday's sashimi. I must say, I'm…_disappointed,_" Gato said.


	47. The Demon in the Snow

_**The Demon in the Snow**_

"Gato, I don't understand. What is all this? Why are you here? And who are these thugs you've brought with you?" Zabuza asked.

"Well, you see, there's been a slight change in plan. According to the new plan, you die right here on this bridge, Zabuza," Gato said.

"What?"

"That's right. You're too expensive so I've decided to take you off the pay roll. Of course, even these thugs I brought with me cost _something,_ so if you could just slaughter a few of them before they take you down, I'd appreciate it. Think you can manage that, _Demon Ninja of the Mist?_ Heh. Look at you! You look about as demonic as a wet kitten," Gato mocked all the thugs behind him laughed.

"Well, well, Kakashi. It would seem our fight is at an end. Since I am no longer in Gato's employ, Tazuna is safe. We have no quarrel," Zabuza said.

"Yeah. I suppose you're right," Kakashi agreed as Gato walked up to Haku's body.

"That reminds me. You little punk! You grabbed me and nearly broke my arm! I've been meaning to repay you for _that,_" Gato said, kicking Haku in the head. "Heh. I only wish he was alive to feel it."

"_Get away!_ Get away from him, you scum!" Naruto cried, running at him but Kakashi held him back.

"Stop! Use your head!"

I held back a sob. Is that what happens to my body whenever I die? Is it treated with that much _disrespect?_

"Well, what about you, Zabuza? You gonna let him do that?" Naruto yelled.

"Be quiet, you fool. Haku's dead. What does it matter?" Zabuza asked.

"_What?_ You mean you could just stand there and watch him get treated like a dog? You and Haku were together for years! Doesn't that mean anything?"

"You don't understand the way of shinobi. I merely used him just as Gato used me." Naruto gasped. "Now, it's over. His usefulness is at an end. The loss of his strength and skill—yes, that means something to me. But the boy? Nothing."

"If you mean that," Naruto said. "you're an even bigger rat than I thought!"

"Okay, that's enough. Calm down, Naruto. He's not the enemy. Not right now," Kakashi said, placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto ripped away from his gasp. "Shut up! As far as I'm concerned, he's Enemy #1! Why, you…you ungrateful…after everything he did for you. Haku _lived_ for you! You were the most important thing in the world to him! And he meant nothing to you? Nothing at all? While he was sacrificing _everything_ for you, you never felt anything at all for him? And if I become stronger does that mean I'll become as cold-hearted as you are? He threw his life away! And for what? For you and your dream? You never let him have a dream of his own but he didn't care. And you just tossed him aside like he was nothing. A broken tool. Man, that's so wrong. _So wrong._" Naruto started to cry, and I did too. I was doing so much crying today. I hadn't cried like this since my dad's funeral.

"You talk too much," Zabuza said and I saw his tear droplets drip onto the ground. "Your words cut deep. Deeper than any blade. While he fought you, his heart was breaking in two. You see, Haku was always too soft and too kind. He felt pain and sorrow and now, curse him, I feel them too! And something else. I feel content that this is the way it ends." He ripped the bandages off his face with his own mouth. "Well, cat got your tongue? Are you so surprised to discover that I'm human? Even shinobi are human no matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail. Well, at least…I have failed. Boy, give me your kunai."

"Here." Naruto dug it out of its pocket on his pant leg and threw it to Zabuza, who caught it in his mouth. Zabuza ran at Gato, who ran behind his thugs, yelling,

"That's enough of this! Do it! Take him down now!"

"He must be out of his mind! One against all of us? What's he thinking?" one of the thugs cried as Zabuza charged forward, cutting them with a kunai, using only his mouth, charging through each and every one of them to get to Gato. He even got a spear in his back, but that didn't stop him.

Zabuza got past all the thugs and ran at Gato, who looked terrified. "_He's the devil!_" Zabuza ran and stuck the kunai in Gato's chest but then the thugs thrust five or more swords and spears into his backside.

"You crazy fool. If you're so eager to join your friend, go ahead! But you're not taking me! Not this time!" Gato gasped, his hand pressed against the wound in his chest.

"I won't be joining Haku. Where he's gone, I cannot follow," Zabuza said, and approached Gato.

"Stay back! _Stay back!_"

"No, my friend, it's the _other place_ we're going to! You and me both, Gato! I can't think of a more fitting destination for a demon ninja, can you? I'm told there are many demons down there of all shapes and sizes! Oh yes, I should fit right in! You, on the other hand, Gato, well, I fear you're in for a long and very painful eternity!" Zabuza snarled, gashing at Gato's chest with the kunai and then finally sending him flying off the bridge.

I gulped. Zabuza couldn't have been more right about hell. There were demons and monsters and bad people down there, where their only thing to do is torture the ones smaller than them. I was fortunate enough to stumble upon one of the very few good-hearted people down there, the ones who were sent down there on accident or not by their own doing. The ones that have changed. I would love to go back there and see that Gato gets what he deserves.

Zabuza glared back at the thugs and they gasped and dropped their weapons, making a path for him. The kunai fell from his mouth as he started walking forward, but he didn't get very far before collapsing.

"Haku. So this is…goodbye…at last. Not once did I ever thank you, Haku. Forgive me for that," Zabuza whispered before his head hit the ground.

Naruto shut his eyes and turned away with a grunt. "Don't turn away," Kakashi said and Naruto opened his eyes to stare at him. "When you live like a warrior, this is how it ends."

"Naruto! Tsunami! Over here! Look, it's Sasuke! He's alright! He's alright!" Sakura called from behind us and we both turned around to see Sasuke slowly getting to his feet. Sasuke raised an arm to wave to us.

"But how?" Naruto asked.

"You're welcome," I replied and he stared at me.

"You knew Sasuke was alive this whole time and didn't say anything? You jerk!" Naruto cried, punching me in the arm and I laughed.

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well, well. Will wonders never cease? Amazing," Kakashi said.

"Hey! Woo-hoo!" the thugs cried and we turned back to look at them. "Don't get too comfortable!"

"This party ain't over yet! Who's gonna pay us now that Gato's gone?"

"No way we're gonna leave here empty handed! So we'll just have to hit that village and see what they've got for us," one said and the other thugs yelled in agreement.

"Not good," Kakashi said.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, you must have a jutsu that can take care of this bunch of losers!" Naruto cried.

"Not right now. I used too much of my chakra."

"_Get 'em, boys!_" a thug cried and they all started charging forward but an arrow landed in front of them, making them all stop.

"There's one little thing you're forgetting about! Before you set one foot in our village, you'll have to go through all of us!" a townsperson yelled and the rest of the village cheered. Their army was twice as big and had pitchforks and shovels.

"Inari!" Naruto cried.

"_Way to go, Inari! Alright, bud!_" I yelled, happily.

"Heroes usually show up at the last minute, you know?" Inari said, grinning.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto cried, making five Naruto's and I decided to help, too, so I used my new Fireball Jutsu to shoo them back a few feet.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu: Kakashi Style!" Kakashi cried and conjured up at least a hundred Kakashi's. "Okay! Still want to fight?"

"_No way!_" the thugs cried and all ran to the boat waiting right outside the bridge.

_Pansies, _I thought, smirking.

"VICTORY!" Inari yelled and the villagers cheered.

Kakashi approached Zabuza, who whispered, "Sounds like it's over."

"Yeah."

"Kakashi…I have a favor to ask."

"What is it?"

"Take me to him. Before I go, I need to see him one last…time."

"Sure," Kakashi said, taking Zabuza in his arms and walking him over to where Haku's body lay, and then set him down next to it. As he was doing so, it started to snow.

"Impossible!" a villager cried.

"Snowing at this time of year?" another agreed.

"Thank you…Kakashi," Zabuza whispered and turned to face Haku. "You were always at my side. The least I can do is to be beside you at the end." He reached up to touch Haku's face. "I know it cannot be but…I wish I could go to where you have gone. I wish I could…join you there. Haku…"

"He told me…where he came from, it was always snowing. All the time," Naruto said, crying again. I pulled him into a tight hug.

"Of course. His spirit was as pure as the snow," Kakashi said. "You never know, Zabuza. Maybe you _will_ join him there. Who's to say?"

"I'll let you know," I said, quietly and Naruto pushed away from our hug.

"Huh?"

"Don'tcha know? When angels die, their body is always brought back until their mission is complete. I've died twice already. So the next time I die, I'll let you know where Zabuza has gone," I said.

Xxx

"Is that really it, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. We were standing before two graves. Both had crosses resembling the grave and Zabuza's had his sword propped up behind it. "Is that the ninja way? To use and be used by people like tools?"

"Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny. There's no point in wondering whether it's right or wrong, it just is. It's the same in the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Kakashi explained.

"Well, if you ask me, if that's what being a ninja's all about, something's out of whack! Is that why we go through all this training? Just to end up like them?" Naruto asked.

"What is the reason for that?" Sasuke wondered.

"Well…it's a question without an answer. And that is something we ninja have to deal with every day of our lives. Like Zabuza and the kid," Kakashi said.

"Okay!" Naruto cried and all the rest of us stared at him. "I've just come to a decision! From now on, I'm finding my own ninja way! A way that's straight and true and without _any _regrets! From now on, I'm following the way of Naruto!"

"Can you do that?" I joked and he stuck his tongue out at me.

**Xxx**

"We could never have finished the bridge without you. I can't tell you how much we're going to miss you," Tazuna said as the entire town wished us goodbye.

"Do be careful!" the Other Tsunami said.

"Thank you for everything," Kakashi replied.

"Now, now. Don't get all choked up! We'll come back and visit real soon!" Naruto said, smiling.

"You swear you will?" Inari asked, fighting back tears.

"Of course," Naruto answered, fighting back tears as well. "You know, Inari, you can cry if you want. There's nothing wrong with that. Go for it!"

"Who says I wanna cry? Anyway, if there's nothing wrong with it then why don't _you_ go on and cry?"

"No! You first!" They both just stared at each other until Naruto turned away and said, "Forget it!" We all started walking on the newly finished bridge.

"Haha! As soon as we get back, I'm gonna let Iruka-sensei fix me up a _whole_ mess of ramen to celebrate a mission accomplished! Oh, and just wait until I tell Konohamaru about all my adventures! The kid's gonna worship me!" Naruto gushed.

"Hey," Sakura said.

"Yeah?" Naruto replied.

"Not you, Naruto! Sasuke, when we get back, you wanna go out and do something together?"

"I don't think so. Thanks," he replied.

"Oh. Okay," Sakura murmured, looking all gloomy.

"Sakura! _I'd_ do something with you if you want!" Naruto offered.

"_What?_ Hey, that was a private conversation! Beat it!"

Sasuke scoffed and rolled his eyes and I grinned at him. "Hey, uh, Tsunami," he muttered.

"Yeah?" I said.

"Thanks for healing me back there. If you hadn't done that…I might not have pulled through," he admitted.

"No problem. It's what I'm here for, right?" I flashed him a grin and he smiled back.

"_Tsunami!_" Naruto cried, yanking me backwards. "I gotta tell you something!"

"_What?_" I replied, irritably. "I was having a conversation."

"With Sasuke? Wha—?" Naruto suddenly looked horrified and lowered his voice. "You don't _like_ him, do you?"

"What? No way!" I cried. "Anyways, what do you care?"

"What? Uh, no reason!" he yelped, blushing. "I just don't think you should be with a guy like him!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever, Naruto."


	48. Coming Back Home

When I got back to the village, the first thing I did was check in with Asuka-sensei to let her know I was back in town. I would have gone to tell my mom first, if she actually cared. I bragged to my teammates about my amazing mission and, just in case you were wondering, they are all insanely jealous.

I told Asuka and the rest of my team about me dying and Asuka went to go tell the Hokage, who told everyone in town. So now everyone knows I'm an angel and that I have died twice. People I do know are avoiding me and giving me strange looks every time I walk by and people I don't know are coming up to me to ask what it feels like to die and telling me to give messages to their loved ones the next time I pass away.

The only people who are still acting normal around me are Naruto and Shikamaru, and I'm glad. I can always count on them for that.

"So you really died?" Shikamaru asked me. We were watching the clouds, Shikamaru's favorite activity. Usually, I think this is the most boring thing in the world but I missed Shikamaru so much while I was on mission and I realized that I missed this, too.

"Yeah. And I suppose you want to know what it felt like?" I asked him and he shrugged.

"Sure."

"I don't know...I guess it's just like, there's this instant pain. Like, the worst pain I've ever felt and then the pain's gone and it's like I'm sleeping. And then I either wake up in heaven or hell," I explained.

"Which one have you been to?" Shikamaru asked and I replied,

"Both."

He looked at me, shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah."

We spent the next hour or so talking about heaven and hell. Well, actually it was just me explaining what they were both like while Shikamaru nodded and said, "Yeah," every once in a while. It was nice.

I let out a sigh after we were done talking. "I missed you."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Tsunami, you were only gone for a couple of days."

"But still," I said and smiled at him and he smiled back.

Later on, I went to go hang out with Naruto in his aparment and it seems like he has gone back to hating Sasuke. Even more now.

"He's so annoying. He always has to show me up on everything," Naruto vented while we ate ramen and sat in front of the TV. We were watching Spongebob. That was still Naruto's favorite show, even after five years.

"I-" I started but Naruto kept ranting.

"And Sakura is obsessed with him! _All_ the girls are obsessed with him! Tsunami, you're a girl. Do you think Sasuke is uh...hot?" Naruto asked.

"What? Hell no. He's an albino and he back of his hair looks like a duck's asshole," I said and that made my best friend laugh hysterically.

"HAHAHAHA! I'm gonna tell him you said that!" Naruto cried, still laughing.

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care."


	49. A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exam!

_**A New Chapter Begins: The Chunin Exam!**_

I sighed and shoved my hands into the pockets of my shorts as I walked home. Another day of pointless ninja missions like walking dogs and babysitting and pulling plants. And Honako was getting on my last nerve. I was kicking up pebbles on my way home when I saw Naruto, Konohamaru, and two other little kids standing around a few yards in front of me, so I made my way over to them.

"...but you promised you would play ninja with us today!" Konohamaru cried.

"Ugh. A ninja _playing_ ninja? That is _so_ twisted," Sakura grumbled as she walked up to us, looking depressed.

"Aah! Hey, Sakura!" Naruto cried, nervously and I rolled my eyes, silently noting that I didn't get a 'Hey, Tsunami' or even a 'Hi!' when I walked up.

Naruto turned beet red as Sakura kept her gaze on him and started laughing like a maniac. I lowered my eyes to the ground, bitterly. I didn't want to see Naruto drool over Billboard Brow - I really wasn't in the mood.

"Hey, _boss!_ Who's that girl, anyway?" Konohamaru asked. "Ah! I get it, you're a smooth operator, boss!"

"Uh...?" Naruto said, looking over at the smaller boy.

"Come on, I know she's your," Konohamaru paused for dramatic effect and raised his pinky. "_girlfriend_."

"Well, you can tell she's really crazy about me, huh?" Naruto said and I lifted my head, amused. This was getting good.

"That's _it!_" Sakura screamed, punching Naruto square in the face and sending him flying backwards.

"Boss!" Konohamaru yelped and I went to go help Naruto to his feet with a sigh. "What kind of girlfriend are you? You're a witch! And you're ugly, too!"

This made me smile.

Sakura, however, looked furious and proceeded to kick the crap out of Konohamaru. _Beating up little boys...real nice, Sakura,_ I thought to myelf, sourly. She walked away, triumphantly, while Naruto and Konohamaru lied on the ground, moaning.

"Hey, Konohamaru, are you okay?" the little boy with glasses asked and the two stood up.

"Psycho," I muttered and Naruto shot me a look.

"I don't even think she's human! Did you see how wide her forehead is?" Konohamaru asked and Sakura stopped walking. She turned around to glare at them, her eyes screaming bloody murder. Naruto, Konohamaru, and the two kids started panicing and running as she chased them, but I just watched her run by. I wasn't scared of Sakura and she knew it.

The four ran until Konohamaru was knocked over and then everyone stopped. I caught up with them to see what was going on.

"Do you need something?" a guy dressed in all black with some kinds of markings on his face asked. A girl with blonde, spiky hair was standing behind him.

"No! Except for you to _move out of the way!_" Konohamaru cried, bravely but the guy in black didn't seem to appreciate that. He quickly picked up the Hokage's grandson by his scarf.

"Does this hurt, punk?"

"Put him down, Kankuro! Or you know you'll pay for it later!" the blonde girl said.

"Hey, I'm sorry. The whole thing was my fault," Sakura said, sweetly.

"_You'd better take your hands off him right now!_" Naruto yelled, angrily.

"Come on, man, he's just a kid!" I protested.

"We've got a few minutes before he gets here, let's mess with these punks, huh?" Kankuro said.

Konohamaru started kicking and squirming in his grasp. "Let go of me, you jerk!"

"You're feisty. But not for long," Kankuro said, tightening his grip on the scarf.

"_Put. Him. Down!_" Naruto yelled, running at Kankuro but he just made a hand sign and somehow sent Naruto flying backwards on his butt. "What the-? What was that?"

"You're a Leaf genin, too? Looks like your village is full of wimps!" Kankuro mocked.

"Ugh! Konohamaru!" Naruto cried and the two kids called out Konohamaru's name as well.

"Cut it out! It hurts!" Konohamaru yelped as Naruto jumped to his feet.

"That's it! Drop him now or I take you apart, you got that, _fool-_" Sakura cut him off by strangling him.

"You're the fool! Making threats isn't going to help, Naruto!"

"Hey! Let him go!" I cried, angrily.

"You're annoying. All of you. I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings, so when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth...I just want to break him in half!" Kankuro said. Who the hell _was_ this guy?

"Ugh. Fine. I'm not involved in any of this, okay?" the blonde girl said.

"First, I'll take care of this little squirt," Kankuro gestured to Konohamaru. "then I'll waste the other one!" He reached his fist back and Naruto let out a yell before charging at him. But something got to Kankuro first.

It was a rock. Thrown by Sasuke, who was sitting on a branch in a tree, overlooking the scene. Kankuro grabbed his injured hand and Konohamaru fell on the ground.

"You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league," Sasuke said.

"_Sasuke!_" Sakura squealed and I rolled my eyes.

"Naruto!" Konohamaru cried, running to his blonde friend's side.

"Oh great. Another wimp to tick me off," Kankuro grumbled.

"Get lost," Sasuke warned, crushing a rock to dust in his fist.

"_Aah! He's so cool!"_ Sakura and the two little kids squealed, love-struck and awed.

"How come you're not cool like that?" Konohamaru asked, pointing at Naruto.

"What do you mean? I could've taken that guy out in two seconds flat!" Naruto tried to reassure him but Konohamaru just "hmph"ed. _Don't worry, slick. I'll always think you're cooler than Sasuke,_ I thought, privately.

"Hey, punk. Get down here," Kankuro said. "You're the kind of pesky little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up!" He unleashed the wrap on something that was tied around his back.

"_What?_ Are you gonna use the Crow for _this?_" the blonde girl cried, exasperated.

"Kankuro. Back off," a voice said. We all looked up and saw a red-headed boy standing upside down in the same tree Sasuke was in. "You're an embarrasment to our village."

Everyone else looked shocked to see him, but all I could think was that this kid was really, _really_ hot.

Kankuro smirked, nervously. "Hey, Gaara."

**Xxx**

Meanwhile, the third Hokage was standing before a group of jonin. "I have summoned you for a very important purpose. Seeing your fellow jonin here, I'm sure you realize what this is about.

"I take it all the other lands have been notified about the coming event," Asuma-sensei said. "I noticed some of their genin have already arrived here in the village."

"Yeah. When do we start?" Kurenai-sensie asked.

"We will begin in one week," the Hokage announced.

"That's pretty short notice," Kakashi-sensei pointed out.

"It is seven days from today. On the first day of July, the genin will be gathered and tested. Only the very best will be selected as chunin."


	50. His Plan

It's true that this year's chunin exams were just a set-up for betrayal. It's also true that Orochimaru himself had wormed his way into the Hidden Leaf Village at that very time. He wanted Sasuke Uchiha.

But he wanted someone else, too.

A man on a quest to learn every single jutsu that there is to learn had to have heard of angels roaming the earth on missions. Oh yes, he had done his fair share of research on them and he heard a rumor that there was an angel in the Hidden Leaf Village - the same place where Sasuke was. It was like hitting two birds with one stone!

Imagine all the kinds of things he could do if he could capture an angel and learn some of her powers? And even if he couldn't, imagine all the things he could get that angel to do for him? It was like having God on his side.

Oh yeah. It would all be so perfect, just as long as everything went according to plan.


	51. Identify Yourself: Powerful New Rivals!

_**Identify Yourself: Powerful New Rivals!**_

"You're an embarrassment to our village," Gaara snarled. "Have you forgotten why we came all the way here?"

"I-I know! I mean, they challenged us! They started the whole thing, really. See, here's what happened-" Kankuro started but Gaara cut him off:

"Shut up. _Or I'll kill you._"

"Oh. Right. I was totally out of line. I'm - I'm sorry, Gaara. I was out of line," Kankuro apologized quickly. Gaara moved his attention to us.

"I'm sorry for any trouble they caused."

"It's cool," I said, and noticed that Gaara and Sasuke seemed to be analyzing each other. Then Gaara transported from the tree to the ground with a flurry of sand.

"Let's go," he said. "We didn't come here to play games."

"Alright, sure. I get it," Kankuro agreed and he and the blonde girl followed him go.

"Hold on! _Hey!_" Sakura cried, running after them.

"What?" the blonde girl asked.

"I can tell from your headband that you've come from the Village Hidden in the Sand! Of course the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind are allies but no shinobi can enter another's village without permission! So, state your purpose. And it'd better be good!"

"Really?" the blonde girl said as the three turned around. "Have you guys all been living under a rock or what? You don't know what's going on, do you?" she held up a pass. "We _do_ have permission. Of course, you're correct. We _are_ Hidden Sand genin. Our home is the Land of the Wind. And we're here for the Chunin exams. Get the picture?"

"The Chunin exams? What's that?" Naruto asked. "Well, I've never heard of any Chunin exams. Believe it."

"I believe it, alright! That you're totally clueless."

"Hey, boss. Those are the exams that every genin's got to take in order to graduate to being a full-on Chunin!" Konohamaru informed him.

"Oh! Well, why didn't you say so? I am so there!" Naruto cried.

_Chunin exams?_ I thought. _Why didn't Asuka-sensei tell me about this? Why didn't _any_ of the senseis tell their students about this?_

Gaara scoffed and the three started to walk away again but Sasuke dropped from the tree and cried, "Hey! You! Identify yourself!"

"Hmm? You mean me?" the blonde girl asked, blushing.

"No. The guy with the goard on his back."

Gaara stopped and turned. "My name is Gaara of the Desert. I'm curious about you, too. Who are you?"

"I am Sasuke Uchiha."

The two were having a stare down when Naruto jumped in, "Hi there! I bet you're dying to know my name, right?"

"I couldn't care less," Gaara said and the three jumped into the air and disappeared.

"Hey, Konohamaru," Naruto asked, kneeling down in front of the boy. "do I seem uncool or something?"

"Well, compared to Sasuke - yeah, you're pretty lame," he admitted.

"Aaaahh! You're not gonna show me up, Sasuke!"

"Back off, loser."

Suddenly, I sort of understood why Sakura and Ino and all those other girls went crazy for Sasuke. He was dark and mysterious and cool which made him so extremely irresistable. I didn't feel that way about Sasuke - no, Gaara. There was just something about him...I smirked. Well, let's just say I wouldn't mind getting to know him a little better. What a hottie.

"Naruto, let's go," I said, yanking him away so he wouldn't get into a yelling match with Sasuke.

"Ugh! What a jerk! Why does _Sasuke_ always get all the attention?" Naruto ranted as we walked the streets back to our apartment building.

"Don't let it get you, chief. Guys like Sasuke _need_ attention - they crave it."

"What about me? _I'd_ like some attention once in a while, too!"

I grinned and shook my head, knowing that this afternoon would be filled with Naruto bitching about Sasuke.

**Xxx**

"Alright. It is time we chose our candidates for the Chunin Examination. To begin, will those in charge of the rookie genin step forward," the Hokage said and four jonin stepped forward. "Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuka, Asuma. What do you say? Are there any in your squads you'd recommend, who are ready for the exams despite their inexperience? As you know, any genin who has carried out eight or more missions is eligible for the examinations. Beyond that, only you can decide if they are ready. Of course, most genin require a much longer training period, which is twice that many missions. So, Kakashi, you begin."

Kakashi began: "I lead squad seven: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno. I, Kakashi Hatake, recommend all three of these genin for the Chunin selection exams."

"And my squad is number eight: Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame. And now I, Kurenai Yuhi, recommend all three."

"And my squad is number nine: Honako Kushini, Tsunami Halu, Link Champlou, Kyoko Jalika. And now I, Asuka Hiromi, recommend all four."

"And my squad is number ten: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi. And now I, Asuma Sarutobi, recommend all three."

"Hold on! Just a minute!" Iruka-sensei cried.

"Yes, what is it, Iruke?" the Hokage asked and the four jonin turned to face him.

"Hokage, with all respect, the thirteen names that were just given were all my students at the academy! I know their skills and abilities! Every one of them has great potential but it's too soon! They need more experience before they are tested! If they try now, they're sure to fail the exam!"

"When I became a chunin, I was six years younger than Naruto is now," Kakashi pointed out.

"_Naruto is nothing like you!_" Iruka stepped forward. "Are you trying to destroy him?"

"Well, they're always complaining about not being challenged enough. Maybe wiping out on the exams will teach them a lesson. A little pain is good."

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing fatal, of course. But seriously, Iruka, relax. Listen, I understand how you feel. It's very personal for you and it upsets you but - "

"Alright, Kakashi. Back off, you've said enough," Kurenai cut in.

"On the contrary, Kurenai, Iruka needs to hear this," Kakshi objected. "He needs to realize that they're not his students anymore. They're _mine._"

"_But_ these exams could destroy them! You know that!"

"Iruka," the Hokage interrupted. "you have made your point. I understand. Accordingly, what I have decided to do is hold a special preliminary test."

"Pre-preliminary test?"

**Xxx**

"Chunin exam, huh? Interesting," Honako said after I told my squad about the encounter with the Hidden Sand ninja. We were sitting at our designated spot by the waterfall, waiting for Asuka-sensei to arrive.

"'Interesting' my ass! I'm _psyched!_" Kyoko cried, bouning up and down. "I'm gonna kick some serious ass! You all will _eat. My. DUST!_"

I laughed at her. "You sound like Naruto."

"You really think you can beat Tsunami? Keep dreaming, kiddo. She's an angel," Link said, lighting up.

"Goddammit! I'm so sick of Tsunami getting all the breaks just because she's an angel!" Honako cried.

"Hey! I'm the one who has to _die_ all the time!"

"Boo-freaking-hoo!"

"Okay, degenerates, I'm here. Quit fighting," Asuka said as she walked up to her fired up students. "Here." She threw four pieces of paper at us and we each scrambled to grab one. "These are the application forms for the chunin exams. I recommended you. If you want to take part in it, go to room 301 at the academy at three p.m. five days from now. Good luck."

After that, Asuka let us leave and we didn't have any more training for the rest of the week. When I told Naruto that I got recommended for the Chunin exams, too, he was psyched. And _I_ was psyched when I found out that Shikamaru got recommended as well. The only thing I was worried about was if we somehow had to fight each other. I didn't know what I would do if that happened.

Oh yeah, and when I went to the academy to visit Rayne, this huge guy was harrassing him. I took care of him pretty easily but if was weird because I'd never seen the guy around here before. I asked Naruto and Shikamaru about it and they said that they both had to fight the guy off, too. Same with Kyoko and Link - I didn't ask Honako. Why would I?

Who was this creep?

I quickly forgot about him as I walked to the academy with the rest of my squad, five days later. But when we got there, these two ninja were standing in front of the door and refusing to let a crowd of kids in. A guy with a bowl haircut and green jumpsuit charged at him but was sent flying backwards.

"You want to take part in the Chunin exams but you can't even get past us? Why don't you just give up now before you get hurt?" one of the guys taunted.

"Yeah, I think I hear your mommy calling ya'!" the other agreed.

"Please let us through! We're supposed to go in there!" a brunette with two buns on the top of her head pleaded and started forward but she was struck.

There were murmurs throughout the crowd and Kyoko whispered to me, "That's harsh!"

"Did you say harsh?" the second guy asked. "Don't kid yourself - we're being nice by comparison! The exams are going to make _this_ look like a picnic!"

"Some of you won't survive the exams. Others will be wrecked for life and some of you may go crazy. For Chunin it's always life and death!" the first guy said.

"You think it's a joke? Chunin are qualified to _lead_ missions! The lives of your squad members are in your hands so you'd better be tough enough to take the heat! Delicate little girls don't belong here."

"We're just thinning out the herd! You won't pass anyway so go home and play with your dolls!"

I clenched my fists. They thought girls weren't tough? Well, I'd teach them a lesson they'd never forget!

"Real nice speech. Now both of you step aside and let me through," Sasuke said, stepping forward. I looked at him, shocked. I didn't even know squad 7 had gotten here yet! "And while you're at it, reverse the genjutsu. We can see through your illusion, anyway. We're going to the _third_ floor."

"What does he mean? We are on the third floor!" someone whispered to their teammate, and he wasn't the only one who was confused. There was a genjutsu involved? How come everyone can spot these things but me?

"Well, well," the second guy said.

"So you noticed the genjutsu, huh?" the first guy asked.

"Go ahead, tell them, Sakura," Sasuke said. "I'm sure you saw it before anyone else did."

"Huh?"

"You have the sharpest eyes and the best analytical skills on our squad. You must have seen this coming a mile away."

"I must have?" Sakura questioned. "Well, sure! Of course. Sure, I spotted it right away! This is only the second floor."

"Right!" Naruto agreed, and the room number 301 changed back to 201.

"Well, aren't we the smart ones? So you noticed an illusion. Now let's see you deal with _this!_" the second guy cried, charging at Sasuke, who was all but ready to fight him but the guy with the bowl haircut got in between them with the blink of an eye.

"Whoa. He's just as fast as me," Link murmured to himself.

"Hey. What happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said to keep a low profile and don't let anyone see our skill level!" a guy with long hair and white eyes said to the guy with the bowl haircut.

"I know, but-"

"Never mind. It's over. Forget it," the girl with the two buns said, shaking her head.

The bowl haircut guy approached us, proudly, and at first I thought he was coming up to me but he wasn't - he was approaching Billboard Brow.

"My name is Rock Lee. You are Sakura, right?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Please be my girlfriend!" Rock Lee cried, blushing and giving her a thumbs up. "I vow to protect you with my life."

Sakura looked horrified. "Definitely..._not._"

"Why?" Rock Lee asked, gloomily.

"Because you're a weirdo!"

"Aw.." Naruto and I burst out laughing while Kyoko elbowed me in the stomach, telling me to be nice.

"You. Over here. What's your name?" Lee's male teammate asked Sasuke and Naruto immediately stopped laughing and was infuriated instead.

"It's common courtesy to give your own name before asking for someone else's," Sasuke pointed out.

"You're a rookie, aren't you? How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm not obliged to answer."

"What's that?" the guy asked but Sasuke just walked away from him and over to me and Sakura, who were watching Rock Lee and Naruto pout over by the wall.

"Hey, Naruto, Sasuke. Come on, let's go," Sakura said, and they started to leave. She nodded to me, so I led my squad after them.


	52. Chunin Challenge: Rock Lee vs Sasuke!

**Author's Note: Hey, guys. I know it's been a while but I'm BAAACK! And I also know that the story's been getting boring because it's mostly just the episodes with Tsunami and her squad put into it, but just...hang in there, okay? The next couple of chapters will be like that, too, but just wait for the Chunin Exams because I have a HUGE twist planned for that.**

**And also, I just wanted to say that this is one of my favorite episodes EVER and I had so much fun writing it. I'd have to say that this episode and the one wher Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura try to find out what's underneath Kakashi's mask are my favorites. XD**

**-Rachel**

_**Chunin Challenge: Rock Lee vs. Sasuke!**_

The seven of us were walking along together in sullen silence when someone from behind us called out, "Hey you! With the attitude! Hold on!"

"Huh?" We all turned around and saw the guy with the bowl haircut from before staring down at us from the balcony.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked, uninterested.

"I want to fight! Right here and right now!" he declared.

"You want to fight me here and now, huh?"

"Yes!" the boy jumped down from the balcony with grace. "My name is Rock Lee. You said it was common courtesy for a challenger to give his own name first, right? _Sasuke Uchiha._"

"Hmm. So you know me."

"I challenge you!" Rock Lee cried, getting to a fighting stance. "Everyone is always talking about the Uchiha clan and how great they are. I want to see if it is true! I figure you will be a good test for me. And also," he turned to Sakura, who looked horrified. "Oh, Sakura...I love you!"

Sakura shrieked in disgust. "_Those eyebrows can't be real! Nooooo!_ Your hair stylist is horrible, too. And those eyebrows are so bushy! YOU'RE SUCH A WEIRDO!"

"You are an angel! Sent from heaven!" Rock Lee said and blew her a kiss, which she dodged. By this time, Kyoko, Link, and I were rolling on the ground, laughing while Honako watched the situation with an amused look on her face. I couldn't even breath because I was laughing so hard.

"That was a good move! But let us see you dodge this!" he said and blew twelve more kisses in her direction, and somehow, Sakura shrieked and dodged and bent her body in insane ways to miss every one of them.

"Oh my God... no more, no more," I begged, panting and holding my stomach, giggles still leaking out of my mouth.

"Hey! Keep your creepy little valentines to yourself! I was dodging for my _life_ there!" Sakura yelled, furiously.

"You do not have to be so negative, Sakura," Rock Lee said, sadly.

My laugh attack was wearing off just in time for me to see that Naruto was furious. _Oh crap,_ I thought, picking myself up off the ground in case I needed to restrain a few people.

"You've heard of the Uchiha clan, yet you're challenging me? You must be even more psycho than you look, if that's possible. You want to know more about my clan? Then I'll teach you - _the hard way,_" Sasuke said.

"Bring it on," Rock Lee replied.

"_Hold it!_" Naruto cried. "I get him first. This weirdo is mine."

"Go for it," Sasuke said.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded.

"What? It'll take me two minutes to have this guy begging for mercy!" he cried.

"No thank you. Right now the only one I want to fight is Uchiha," Rock Lee said, his eyes still focused on Sasuke.

"Yeah? Well, I've got news for you!" Naruto started running towards him. "Sasuke can't compare to _me!_ Believe it!"

Naruto charged at Rock Lee, his clenched fist coming nearer and nearer to his face, but Rock Lee simply lifted two fingers and used them to knock Naruto's fist away, causing his whole body to go off course. Naruto caught himself with a hand and swung his leg at Rock Lee's face but he easily dodged it, then swung his leg around and knocked Naruto off the ground.

"Leaf Whirlwind!" he cried and Naruto spun and spun and spun until he hit a wall and passed out.

I sighed. "I should probably go see if he's okay," I said and then trudged over to where Naruto was laying.

Rock Lee straightened up and began to talk, "Just accept it. You have no change against me, your skills are inferior. You see, Sasuke, out of all of the top Leaf genin, I am the best. Fight me and I will prove it to you!"

Sasuke smirked. "This will be fun. Let's do it."

"There's no time, Sasuke! We've got to register by 3:00, that's less than half an hour!" Sakura reminded him.

"Relax. This'll all be over..._in five seconds,_" Sasuke said and charged at Rock Lee.

Sasuke swung a punch at him but Rock Lee was out of the way in an instant. Suddenly, he was behind him and yelled, "Leaf Hurricane!" swinging a foot at Sasuke's head but Sasuke dodged. He tried again and just as Sasuke was about to make a move, Rock Lee's foot connected with his face.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried as he went flying across the floor.

Rock Lee stared down at Sasuke as he started to get up. Now that the fight was at a calm point, Kyoko called across the room to me,

"Tsunami! Sakura's right! There isn't a lot of time to register! We have to go!"

"No way!" Link argued. "I want to watch the fight!" For the first time in his life, Link was paying close attention to something besides his girly magazines.

"Screw all of you. This doesn't concern me, so I'm going to sign up. You're welcome to join me or not, I don't really care," Honako snapped and turned on her hell and stomped away.

"Bitch," I muttered. Now that I knew Honako was leaving, there was no way I was going to sign up until the match was over. No way I was going to follow her.

"I've been waiting to try this out," Sasuke said with a smirk as he and Lee faced each other. Sasuke looked up and I saw that his eyes looked different. Was it - ? Of course. The Sharingan.

Sasuke ran at Rock Lee again, clearly more determined this time. But while I was lost in thought about how the fight would end up and if there would be enough time to sign up for the exams, Lee had kicked Sasuke in the jaw, sending him flying across the room again. He caught himself and landed on his feet again, and the two faced each other once more.

"You see, my jutsu is not ninjutsu or genjutsu," Lee explained as he ran at Sasuke. At that point, Naruto was starting to come to but I didn't notice him because I was too busy watching Lee and Sasuke dodge leck kicks and get around each other at incredible speed.

Naruto gasped. "Sasuke!"

I glanced over at him. "Oh, hey. You're awake. Awesome fight, huh?"

Sasuke gasped and staggered backwards. Something had obviously happened to make him weaker...and I missed it! Damn!

"You get it now? I am using tijutsu, that means no tricks, _Sasuke,_" Lee explained and it seemed like he disappeared, only to reappear behind him. Is it possible for someone to move that fast? "It is just straight martial arts. Nothing more."

"Why you!" Sasuke snarled, swining a fist back at him but Rock Lee jumped back in time to avoid it.

"I know your technique. Forget it. It will not work! Not on me. I know you can see through your opponent's jutsu. That Sharingan gives you the ability to read his chakra and decipher his hands signs and movements. You can guess what he's going to do almost before he knows himself. The problem is, tijutsu is a little bit different," Lee said.

"Right. So what's your point?" Sasuke asked.

Lee continued, "I do not try to hide or disguise my moves. I do not have to! Even if you can read them, you still cannot stop them. You are too slow! Your eyes may be quick enough to stay one step ahead of me, but if your body cannot keep up, what good does it do you?" Sasuke growled, his body shaking with anger. "You know what? This is what I believe. There are two different kinds of ninja: those like you who are born with talent and do not have to work at it." Sasuke began to charge at Lee again. "And those like me. The ones who have to train every day of our lives!"

Sasuke swung a punch at Lee but he dodged it. "The fact is, your Sharingan is the worst match for my extreme tijutsu! Here is what I mean!" Lee kicked Sasuke in the jaw again, sending him flying through the air once more. While Sasuke was in the air, Lee launched himself up so that he was right behind Sasuke.

"Dancing Leaf Shadow," Sasuke observed.

"Good eye. Now I will prove my point," Lee said as the bandages on his hands began to unravel themselves. "that hard work beats out natural talent. _You're finished!_"

At that point, a pinwheel flew through my hair, holding Lee's bandages up against the wall and keeping him from doing anything else.

"This is bad..." Lee muttered.

"Alright, that's enough! Lee!" a giant turtle said, with a ninja headband around it's neck. Lee pulled away from Sasuke and landed on the ground, safely, but Sasuke kept falling.

"_Sasuke!_" Sakura cried and ran over to him just in time to catch him before he fell.

Meanwhile, Rock Lee stood in front of the turtle, looking ashamed. "You - you were watching us the whole time?" Lee asked.

"Of course! That last technique is forbidden! You know that!" the turtle snapped.

"He's talking to a turtle...and it's talking back..." Naruto said, and I would have laughed if I hadn't been so damn confused myself.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to," Lee apologized, his head bowed.

"Now he's apologizing to a turtle...wait a minute! Could that be his sensei?" Naruto asked and ran over to Sakura so fast that I had to sprint to keep up with him.

"I was not planning to use a forbidden jutsu! It is just, I was in the middle of the fight and I mean, you understand..." Lee trailed off.

"Hey! You guys!" Naruto cried, just as Kyoko and Link came walking up to us as well.

"What, Naruto?" Sakura asked, irritably.

"That weird thing he's talking to is a turtle, right?"

"Well, _obviously!_ What'd you think it is?"

"Okay then! So maybe it means that _turtles_ can be sensei, too!"

"How would I know if they can be sensei, too?"

"You're a disgrace!" the turtle snapped and Lee whimpered. "You think you'll get away with a bunch of lame excuses like that? A shinobi never reveals his techniques unless it's absolutely necessary! It's such a basic rule, you should know it by now!"

"Forgive me, sir."

"Are you prepared to take the punishment for your actions?"

"I - yes, sir."

"Alright then. Please come out: _Gai sensei!_" A puff of smoke appeared and an older version of Lee was suddenly standing on top of the turtle.

"Hey! What's shaking? How you doin', everybody? Life treatin' you good?" he grinned down at Lee. "Hi, Lee."

"Too weird," Sakura said and I nodded in agreement.

"So that's where Lee gets it from! Same soup bowl haircut and even bushier eyebrows!" Naruto cried and Lee turned to face us, furious.

"Hey! Do not insult Gai sensei! He is one of the greatest men in the entire world!"

"Well, excuse me for not noticing his greatness! I was too busy watching him crawl out from underneath a _turtle!_"

"_He did not crawl out!_"

"Give it a rest, Lee," Gai said.

"Yes, sir."

"Now for your punishment!" Gai cried and punched Lee hard across the face. "I'm sorry, Lee, but it's for your own good!" he said, his voice cracking at the end.

"S-sensei!" Lee cried.

"Go, Lee."

"Oh, sensei! I am...so sorry!"

They were both crying now.

"Alright, it's over. You don't need to say any more."

"Sensei!" Lee yelled and launched himself into Gai's arms for a hug.

The six of us had saved our best gag reflexes, snickers, and looks of disgust for this very moment.

"Actually, it's kind of sweet the way they're all huggy and stuff," Naruto said.

"Huh? You've got to be kidding! They're both totally crazy!" Sakura cried.

Gai released Lee and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're just caught in between. You're too old to be called a boy and not yet quite a man."

"You are so good to me, Gai sensei!"

"Now take off! I want you to give me a hundred laps around the practice field! Show me what you've got!"

"Yes, sir! No problem!"

"Run into the setting sun! Run and suffer! But don't mess up your hair," Gai said and the two started to walk away.

"Hey! Wait a minute! We're not finished here! You guys can't just take off like that!" Naruto yelled.

"Yeah, and what about the Chunin Exams? There's no time for fooling around!" Sakura said.

"Oh crap," I said and glanced at the clock. Would we make it in time?

Gai stopped and turned to face us. "Oh right, I forgot about that. Lee, you not only disobeyed the rule against fighting but you've disrupted the Chunin Exams. I think that warrants a slightly more severe punishment. Don't you?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Let's say _five_ hundred laps, how does that sound?"

"Outstanding, sir!"

"They're insane," Kyoko said.

"Probably, but never mind them. What's the deal with that turtle, anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Ugh! No! He's looking at us!" Sakura cried.

"Tell me, how is Kakashi sensei?" Gai asked.

"You know him?" Sasuke asked.

"Do I know Kakashi? Well, people say..._he and I are arch-rivals for all eternity._"

"THERE'S JUST NO WAY!" Sakura and Naruto screamed.

"How dare you! If Gai sensei says it is true then - " Lee started but Gai stopped him again.

"Let it slide, Lee. A ninja's actions always speak louder than words."

One second Gai was standing next to Lee and then the next, he was behind us. "My record is fifty wins and forty-nine losses. Which is one better than his, by the way." We all turned around to face him.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"You're kidding!"

"No way!"

"How'd he beat Kakashi?"

"The fact is, I'm stronger than Kakashi. And faster," Gai expained.

"You see, Gai sense is the best there is!" Lee cried.

"Do you know my sensei, Asuka?" I spoke up and Gai turned to face me.

"Asuka? Oh yes, I know Asuka," Gai said and started to blush. "Has she ever said anything about me?"

"Huh? Uh, no," Kyoko replied and Gai looked disappointed, but then quickly returned back to normal.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble Lee caused you. Look into my eyes and accept my sincere apology. Also notice my handsome manly features. Lee, you should accompany these fine young ninja to the classroom. Right now." He used a kunai to knock the bandages off the wall, so Lee could wrap up his hands again.

"Remember, give it your best! Lee, farewell!"

"Yes, sir!"

And with a puff of smoke, Gai sensei was gone.

"Whoa!" Naruto yelled and the turtle disappeared, too.

"Hey, Sasuke," Lee said. "Actually, I have not been totally honest with you. I said I wanted to test my skills, and that is true enough, but you are not really the one I wanted to test them against. I lied to you when we were fighting before. I told you I am the best genin here, but there is another top ninja, someone on my own team. I came here to defeat _him._ You were just practice. Now you are a target! I will crush you! There you have it! Consider yourself warned." And then Lee jumped onto the balcony and ran out of sight.

Suddenly, I was really tired and all I wanted was to sign up for the exams so I could go home. So Link, Kyoko, and I excused ourselves from Squad 7 and hurried to sign up, talking and laughing about the best afternoon of our lives and how Honako will be so pissed that she missed it.


	53. Genin Takedown! All 12 Rookies Face Off!

_**Genin Takedown! All Twelve Rookies Face Off!**_

Honako, Kyoko, Link and I approached Asuka-sensei, who didn't seem to be very pleased. "You're late," she announced, crossly.

"Sorry, sensei, but we got held up by the _funniest_ thing ever!" I cried, my face splitting into a grin. "So Sasuke got his butt kicked by this guy with the biggest eyebrows _ever_ and-"

"I don't have time to hear your excuses!" Asuka snapped and I fell silent. "There is something very important that I have to discuss with the four of you."

"The rules of the Chunin Exam, yada yada. Yeah, we know," Kyoko said, impatiently.

"No, it's not - well, you see," Asuka hesitated. "the Hokage made an exception on the rule that there would be squads of three for you four and allowed there to be an extra member to your squad. But the Chunin Exam won't be as kind."

"What are you saying?" Link asked, his Playboy away and his cigarette put out. Asuka seemed to have captured his full attention, as well as Kyoko's and mine. But I could tell by the look on her face that Honako knew what was going on.

"I'm saying that only three of you will be able to participate in the Chunin Exams."

"_What?_" I cried in disbelief.

"How come you didn't tell us this before?" Link yelled.

"This is _bullshit!_" Kyoko shouted.

Honako, however, seemed eerily calm.

"I will give you the four of you a few minutes to decide which one of you won't be participating," Asuka said, quietly and disappeared with a _poof!_

"Can you believe her?" Kyoko said, angrily.

"So...who is it gonna be?" Link asked.

"Me," I volunteered and three sets of eyes landed on me. "I mean, I'm an angel, right? So I've got this huge advantage already...I guess I can wait another six months for another shot at the Chunin Exams."

Honako snorted. "I should've known you would wimp out the first chance you got."

Kyoko turned to face her, her eyes blazing in anger. "I don't see _you_ volunteering to wait to take the Exams! Tsunami is offering to give the rest of us a chance to become Chunin, not because she's scared!"

"I'll sit out," Link interrupted and we all stared at him. "No one would really be that bummed if I don't participate. And anyway, I could use the six months to really work on my skills. Besides," he turned to face me and winked. "I think you have a lot more to prove than I do, sweetheart." And he jerked a thumb in Honako's direction, who rolled her eyes.

"Link, are you sure?" I asked, suddenly feeling really guilty.

"Yeah. I guess I'll get going now. I'm going to take this," Link waved the Playboy in my face. "and - er - read it while I go to the bathroom."

Honako and Kyoko made disgusted faces, but I just grinned at him when I realized what he really meant.

"Okay. Thanks, Link. We owe you one," I said and he replied,

"Oh, I know," and then walked in the direction of his house. The three of us watched him as he got smaller and smaller, until he was finally gone.

"Wow," Kyoko said and I could tell by the look on her face that I wasn't the only one feeling guilty. Honako, on the other hand, seemed glad to be rid of him.

"He could use the training," she scoffed.

"What do you mean by that?" I snapped.

She shrugged. "I mean, we've never actually seen him _do_ anything when we train. He's always buried behind that stupid magazine of his. We don't even know how strong he is - or _isn't._ We wouldn't want him to make Asuka-sensei look bad."

Before Kyoko or I could open our mouths in retaliation, there was another _poof!_ and Asuka-sensei appeared in front of us. She noticed the missing member and raised an eyebrow.

"You sure seemed to make such an important decision awfully fast," she commented.

"He volunteered," Honako pointed out.

Asuka briefly reviewed the rules of the exam and then let us inside the room, where we kept an eye out for any of the other rookies. Almost immediately I saw Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura standing at the middle of the room and I sprinted towards them, Honako and Kyoko on my heels.

"Chief! You made it in!" I cried, happily and pulled Naruto into a tight hug. While Honako and Kyoko socialized with Sasuke and Sakura, I muttered to Naruto what had happened just five minutes ago and he gaped at me.

"I can't believe you volunteered not to take the Exams! It's a good thing Link stepped up or I would have _killed_ you!" he cried and I grinned.

"What's the matter? Afraid of taking the Exams without me?"

"Yeah, you _wish!_ But you and me _have_ to become Chunin together, that's what I really meant!"

Suddenly I heard footsteps approaching and a voice squealed, "Sasuke! Where have you been?" I saw Ino running up from behind Sasuke and wrapping her arms around his neck, flirtatiously. "Boy, you have no idea how much I was _hoping_ you'd show up here! I've missed those brooding good looks of yours!"

"Hey, you porker! Back off! He's mine!" Sakura yelled.

"Miss Forehead, they let _you _in? Still got those big frown lines on your billboard brow, I see!" Ino taunted.

"Leave my forehead out of it!" Sakura cried, and Ino stuck her tongue out at her.

I rolled my eyes. Just another Ino/Sakura fight over Sasuke, nothing exciting. But then I realized, if Ino was here then that also meant...

"Oh, it's _you_ guys," a bored voice broke out above all the others and I nearly tackled my other best friend to the ground at the sight of him.

"_Shikamaru!_"

"Yeah, yeah, that's my name. Don't wear it out," Shikamaru said and then pushed me off him and studied the other rookies. "I knew this was gonna be a drag but I didn't know it was gonna be _this_ lame."

Naruto, who already looked annoyed that Ino was here, now looked doubly annoyed after seeing how warmly I had greeted Shikamaru and the two were glaring at each other. "Oh look, the Three Stooges are here!"

"Hey, you know what, pipsqueak? Ah, forget it, you're a waste of time!"

While Shikamaru and Naruto glared daggers at each other, I grinned and greeted Choji, who was munching away on barbecue chips.

"Well, well, whaddaya know? Looks like the whole gang's back together again!" Kiba said as he approached with his squad and I gave him a tight hug, too. Naruto didn't have time to be annoyed at this because Hinata Hyuga had muttered,

"Oh...hi, Naruto," and he looked at her, puzzled.

"You guys, too, huh? Man, everyone's here for this stupid thing!" Shikamaru commented.

"Yep. Here we all are, the thirteen rookies!" Kiba cried with a grin and then looked around. "Hey, where's Link?" And then I explained to him and the whole group what Asuka-sensei had told us about only squads of three competing.

"This is gonna be fun! At least, for those of us good enough to make the cut!" Kiba said, grinning. "Right, Sasuke?"

"Kiba. Careful you don't get overconfident," Sasuke replied, coolly.

"Just wait! We're gonna blow you guys away! We've been training like crazy."

"What do you think we've been doing? Sitting around, picking daisies? You don't know what training means!" Naruto cried, angrily.

"Don't mind Kiba...I'm sure he didn't really mean anything by it..." Hinata said in that soft, shy voice of hers.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, turning to look at her and she blushed. Kiba turned to look at her as well but Kyoko jumped in, glaring at him:

"God, Kiba, you always were arrogant. Looks like some things never change!" And then I grinned, remembering how much Kiba and Kyoko disliked each other.

"You're right, Kyoko, some things _don't_ change. Your ugly face is one example," he replied back with a smirk and Kyoko's eyes burned with rage. She started to jump on him but Honako and I had to restrain her, while he just laughed.

At that moment, Choji stepped towards Kiba and Akamaru but Shino stuck a foot out in front of him to stop him.

"What do you want? What's wrong?" Choji asked, and they both looked down to see a small, black bug scuttle across the ground in front of Choji.

"Thought maybe you hadn't seen it. Didn't want you steppin' on it," Shino said in that creepy voice of his.

"Why? You saving it for lunch?" Choji argued and I stifled a giggle.

"Hey! You guys!" We all looked over to see a tall man with silvery-gray hair and glasses walking towards us. "You might want to try keeping it down a little. I mean, no offense but you're the twelve rookies, right? Fresh out of the Academy? I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip."

"Well, who asked you? Who are you?" Ino asked.

"I'm Kabuto Yakushi but really, look around you. You've made quite an impression," he said.

And he was right. There was a roomful of older, more experiences and _scary_ looking ninja, glaring at us in a way that made my skin crawl.

"See those guys? They're from the Rain Village, very touchy. They all are. This exam makes everyone tense, and you don't want to rub them the wrong way right now," Kabuto explained. "You can't help it. I mean, how could you know how things work? You're just rookies. You remind me of myself a while back."

"Kabuto. Is that your name?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah."

"This isn't the first time you've taken the exam?"

"No. It's...my seventh." Did I hear that right? "Well, they're held twice a year so this will be my fourth year."

"Wow, a veteran!" Sakura cried in amazement. "You must really be an expert by now."

"Yeah, sort of," Kabuto replied.

"Cool! You can give us all the inside tips!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah, some expert. He's never passed!" Shikamaru said, rolling his eyes and I had to agree. If this guy couldn't pass the first six times, what made the rest of us think we had a shot?

"Well, seventh time's the charm. That's what they say, eh?" Kabuto said, nervously.

"So I guess all those rumors about the exam being tough are true. Oh man, I _knew_ this was gonna be a drag."

"Hang on! Don't give up hope yet. Maybe I can help you kids out a little," Kabuto said and pulled out a large deck of cards. "with my ninja info cards."

"What the heck are those?" Sakura asked.

"It's hard to explain, but these cards have been chakra incoated with everything I've learned over the past four years." Kabuto kneeled down and put the deck of cards on the floor. "I've got more than two hundred of them. So you see, I haven't been completely wasting my time. They may not look like much to the naked eye. In fact, they appear blank." To demonstrate, Kabuto flipped the top card rightside up and there was nothign written on it. "You don't want just anyone seeing this stuff."

"What are you doing?" Honako asked as he put a finger on the middle of the card and it started to spin.

"I'm using my chakra to reveal their secrets. Like this for example," he said and there was a _poof!_ and the once blank card now had a small map written on it.

"Awesome! A map! Of what?" Sakura asked.

"It shows the geographical distrobution of all the candidates who have come to take the Chunin Exam: what villages they come from and how many from each village. Why do you guys think they all come here to take the exam together, at the same time? It's the foster friendship between nations, of course! International brotherhood and all that. And it's true enough, as far as it goes."

"But there's another reason," Sasuke said.

"Yeah. You see, the important thing is that this way they can carefully regulate the total number of shinobi that end up in each village. Thereby, maintaining the balance of power."

"Oh yeah, balance of power," Naruto said, with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Balance of power, big deal. It's all a drag," Shikamaru complained.

"What's the big deal about balance of power, anyway? Why does it matter?" I asked.

Kabuto put his hand on the card and with a _poof!_ it was blank again. "If the balance doesn't maintain, one nation could wind up with many more shinobi than it's neighbors. And it might be tempted to attack them. So, they try to maintain the status quo. Makes sense, I suppose," he explained.

"Do those cards of yours have any info on the other candidates...individually?" Sasuke asked.

"They might. You have someone special in mind?"

"I might."

"Well, I can't promise my information is complete or perfect. But I've got something on just about everyone. Including you guys, of course. So which one is it? Tell me anything you know about them: a description, where they're from, whatever. Anything at all."

"He's Gaara of the Desert," Sasuke said and I perked up. _Ooh, the hot one?_ I thought. "And there's Rock Lee of the Leaf Village, while you're at it."

"Man, that's no fun! You even know their names! That makes it easy," Kabuto complained and picked out two cards from his deck. "Here they are."

"Show them to me."

"Okay. First up is Rock Lee," Kabuto said and put his finger on the card and made it spin, and then reveal the information. "Looks like he's about a year older than you guys. Mission experience: eleven C ranks and twenty D ranks. His squad leader is Gai. In the last twelve months, his taijutsu has radically improved but his other skills are pretty shaky. Last year he got a lot of attention as a genin but for some reason, he chose not to participate in the Chunin Exam. This will be his first time as a candidate, same as you guys. His teammates are Tenten and Neji Hyuga.

"Okay. Now for Gaara of the Desert," Kabuto revealed the information on the next card. "Mission experience: eight C ranks, and get this: one B rank as a genin! There's not a lot more information on this guy. He was a rookie from another land, originally. But there _is_ this: he survived every mission without getting a scratch on him."

"The dude's done a B rank as a genin and has never even been injured?" Shikamaru asked in amazement.

"What's the deal with this guy?" Naruto asked.

Damn. This guy must be _really_ good. The last mission I went on was a C rank that was _supposed_ to be a B rank, with Naruto and the rest of his squad. And when I did that mission, I died..._twice!_ And for this guy to come back from a mission with the same difficulty without any injuries? It seems impossible...

Kabuto got out a new card and it revealed itself to be the first map: "Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Waterfall, Sound. From the looks of it, they've all sent exceptionally skilled candidates to the exam this time around. Of course, the Hidden Sound Village is small. It's sprang up recently, no one knows anything about it. Those guys are a mystery." Kabuto wiped all of his cards blank and put them back in his deck. "Well, you get the point. The competition is going to be intense this year."

"So it would seem. It's almost enough to make you lose your confidence," Hinate murmured.

"It's a fine time to start talking like that!" Ino cried.

"Do you really think it's gonna be tougher this time?" Sakura asked.

"Oh yeah. In the four years I've been coming, I've never seen a crop of candidates with this much potential as this bunch. Yep, we've got our work cut out for us."

I was starting to get a little scared. Not for me, but for my friends. Okay, a little bit for me. I had already died a few times and I wasn't looking forward to it happening again, especially if these guys were cruel and merciless. But my friends and teammates could get really hurt in this exam, or _die._ And unlike me, if they died, they don't get to come back...

"Hey," Sasuke said in a hushed voice. "Don't worry, Naruto, we'll be fine." That was when I realized that my best friend was shaking. But not from fear, like Sakura thought. He was shaking from _determination._

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat every one of ya! _Believe it!_" Naruto cried, a finger pointed in the other candidates' direction.

"_Hey!_ What's that idiot trying to do? Get us _killed?_" Ino yelled in Sakura's direction. "Tell your boyfriend to keep his big, fat trap shut!"

Boyfriend? Something stirred inside of me and I found myself glaring at the pair of them with intense hatred.

"Who's boyfriend?" Sakura shouted, angrily.

"Oh, I forgot, you can't get one!"

"_What'd you say?_"

Shikamaru noticed me glaring at Sakura and Ino at smirked at me. I ignored him.

"YEAH! I feel a lot better now!" Naruto cried.

"Uh, can you say that again a little louder? Didn't quite catch it," Kiba said, sarcastically.

"You moron! Are you trying to get everybody in the place to hate our guts or what?" Shikamaru asked.

Naruto just laughed but Sakura came up behind him and used the crook of her arm to strangle him. "Naruto! You idiot! Why'd you have to go and say something like that? You obnoxious little - " Then she noticed the whole room of candidates was staring at her. "Oh, hi, everyone! Don't mind him. Sometimes he says these spazzy things! He doesn't really mean them, they just kinda come out! He's got this uh, conditon, you know? Kind of a psychological thing. He really should be on medication." She turned back to Naruto. "Now see what you've done, Naruto? You've hurt everybody's feelings! They think you don't respect them, but that isn't true, _is it,_ Naruto? Would you just for once in your life think about what you're doing? Think about the rest of us!"

"Fine," Naruto pouted.

Two kunai knives hit the ground in front of Kabuto, who slid backward to dodge them and a Sound Village ninja appeared in front of him, almost out of thin air. The Sound Village ninja's fist swung at Kabuto, but he quickly dodged it. Kabuto smirked but then the lenses on his glasses broke, and shards of glass fell to the ground.

"Oh, I get it. So it was that kind of attack," Kabuto observed, removing his glasses that now had empty frames.

"Hang on, I saw it all! He dodged the attack. How did _that_ happen?" Sasuke asked, stepping forward.

"It must've come closer than it looked. Heh. Look at him, acting like it was nothing. Real tough guy," Shikamaru said.

Suddenly, Kabuto gasped and then fell to his knees, looking petrified. He then vomited.

"What? Did he just - ?" Naruto started.

"Kabuto, what's wrong? What is it?" Sakura asked.

Three Sound Village ninja stood smirking while Kabuto started to cough. Naruto and Sakura ran to his side.

"Hey, Kabuto! Are you okay?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine..." he replied, and started to get up.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked.

"Not such a tough guy, after all, I guess. Maybe that's why he's on his seventh try," one of the Sound Village ninja said, menacingly.

"Write this on your little card, punk! The genin from the Sound Village will be Chunin when this is over. _Guaranteed,_" another one said.

Suddenly, a large puff of smoke erupted at the front of the class and a hard voice called out, "Alright, you baby-faced degenerates! Pipe down and listen up!" A large man with many scars on his face had said those words, and dozens of Chunin were standing behind him. "It's time to begin. I'm Ibiki Marino, your proctor. And from this moment, _your worst enemy._"

"Man. This guy is like the male version of Asuka-sensei," Kyoko whispered to me and I nodded in agreement.


End file.
